Burning Black Ep1, Act 3: Shadows of Doubt
by Digi-Dolphin
Summary: 3 of 5. The quest to bring down the Spires adds more stress to Timmy's life as allies fall and secrets are revealed. Even using his title as a shield doesn't help, not when Timmy learns his magic can not only create, but tap into the dark side as well...
1. Chapter 1

_**Burning Black**_

Act 3:

Shadows of Doubt

1

The streets of Dimmsdale filled with activity as cars sped along in their commuting routines. People with umbrellas in hand walked briskly down the sidewalks to work, feeling oddly refreshed and not quite so depressed as before. Children in raincoats and shining rubber boots laughed happily as they splashed in puddles and reached for the clouds above. A few of them listened to soft whispers that surrounded them and then closed their eyes, murmuring silent words of praise and gratitude to the one or ones who lifted the magical oppression from their district.

Down the street, just outside the freed section of city, a little girl in tawny pigtails and a pink nightgown hummed cheerfully as she sat in her chair at the kitchen table. Her parents hustled and bustled about her, giving her a bowl of cereal for breakfast before they forgot and rushed off to work without a second thought. The two adults seemed almost frazzled, snatching up quickly heated breakfast items and cups of coffee before heading for the door. The little girl was already partially through her bowl of cereal when she heard the door open and a bright voice called out to her parents.

"Don't you worry! She'll be in good hands! After all, it's your good neighbor and fellow love-filled citizen, Remy Buxaplenty, who pays my babysitting fees so that you don't ever have to worry about it again!"

"Uh oh." the girl murmured and quickly scrambled out of her chair. Running to her room as fast as her padded feet could carry her, she waved her arms almost frantically. The door to the apartment closed and she could hear her babysitter search the area for her.

"Oh, Sophia! Guess who's here to do another little search?" the voice chirped on and Sophia reached for her doorknob, stretching up as high as she could on her toes to grab onto it. A shadow passed over her and she looked back, fearful. Tall, thin, a cruel smile displayed for only her to see on her face, Jeanette was Dimmsdale's new city-wide babysitter, hired and paid for by Remy Buxaplenty in his bid for the title of Heart of Dimmsdale.

Several kids compared her to Vicky in terms of meanness; Vicky still won, but only by a slight margin.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite little runt all dressed up in pink." Jeanette purred darkly, "Your parents are off for their daily drudgery, so that means you do what I say and stay out of my way!" Sophia whimpered and covered her head as the teen reached down, grabbed her by the back of her nightgown and dropped her onto a nearby hat rack. "Now you stay put while I do that customary search that dear little Mr. Money pays me to do." She laughed near maniacally as she kicked open the door to her room and marched in. Sophia kicked and squirmed from her position on the wall, trying to slip free or at least rip through her nightgown's collar.

"Mister Fairy! Hide, hide, hide!" she whimpered softly as her possessions were strewn all over the place for the sake of Jeanette's search. It took several minutes before the babysitter came out of the bedroom with a sour look.

"Kid, I make you miserable enough to bring down a **clown**'s mood. Remy wants a fairy, and here you are being a lousy little brat and not getting one for me to take to him!" Jeanette snapped at the dangling little girl, ignoring her loud wailing, "Now get in your room and shut up! I don't wanna hear anything out of there that sounds like **fun**!" With that, she snatched the girl from the hat rack and tossed her carelessly into the bedroom, slamming the door shut after her.

Sophia picked herself up, trying to quiet her sobs so as not to invite more cruelty from the babysitter. Her room was a mess again, toys tossed about and dresser drawers opened, clothes strewn over the floor. Every time Jeanette came to Sophia's home, this was the same result; she would ransack the little girl's room in a search for fairies, then blame the mess on her being a temperamental child. Of course, her parents believed the babysitter. Every time, Jeanette would fail to find anything and remained sour and bitter up until it was time for her to leave and be paid. But this time, there really **was** a fairy in her room. Why didn't Jeanette see him?

"M-Mister Fairy?" she called out softly and looked for the little cradle where she often put her little dolls for playing 'Mommy', the same toy she emptied out earlier that morning to make room for the fairy she found just outside her apartment building. It was now overturned, probably had been kicked over during Jeanette's search. She crawled towards it and carefully lifted one side of it, peeking underneath.

A green-haired fairy curled underneath it, arms lifted to protect his head and legs pulled up to make himself smaller. One wing fluttered, the other had been torn almost in half when she found him and the poor little thing had the icky red stuff that meant she needed to give him a band-aid to help it. Sophia reached out and poked at his head.

"Mister Fairy, she's gone. It's okay." she whispered and the fairy uncurled, looking at her with wide green eyes.

"And I thought Vicky was bad!" he murmured back and shifted around until he was on his knees, both arms held up over his chest protectively, "Who's **that**?"

"Jeanie. Meanie Jeanie. Her name is big and hard to say, so I call her Jeanie." Sophia returned and pushed the cradle higher so he could shuffle out. "I'm sorry, Mister Fairy. I said I take care of you, but I forgot Jeanie comes and messes up my room." She reached out and barely touched his right arm with her fingertip. "It still hurting?" she asked. The little fairy pressed his hand to it, winced and nodded. Sophia sighed. Taking care of him was harder than she had thought. He had the icky red on his back, right where the wing was all torn up and she put the smallest band-aid she could find on it. Then she found out his left hand also had little owies on it that had more red. No band-aids for that, but she wrapped it up in one of her doll's ribbons and it seemed to do the trick. She didn't know how to fix his wing, though. She wanted to use tape, like Mommy always did when paper tore up and his wings were a little like paper so it could have worked. But Mister Fairy's eyes went really wide and he shook his head. Maybe tape was bad for fairies?

"You don't have a fairy godparent?" the fairy asked suddenly and Sophia looked confused, tilting her head. "Someone like me. A fairy, but one who looks after you."

"Nope. You're the first fairy I ever seed. Saw. Yeah, that." she replied and looked around her room sadly, "I'm gonna be in trouble again. It's not fair." The fairy rubbed his head, lost.

"If I had my wand, I could make it better." he remarked and brightened, "And I'd be better, too! My wand has all my magic in it, so I can use it to heal myself up!" Sophia lit up and clapped her hands, giggling.

"Really? Okay, then, Mister Fairy! Let's find your wand!" she exclaimed and the fairy shook his head.

"Cosmo. My name's Cosmo." he remarked, "And I'm kind of lost. I got separated from my friends and I don't know where I am." Sophia got up and began toddling to her closet to get her jacket and hoodie.

"Are they fairies too?" she asked, opening the door to look inside.

"Some, but the rest are normal people. I want to be home with them. With Wanda and Timmy." Cosmo returned, getting to his feet and following the small girl.

"Uh uh. You can't call anybody else 'Timmy'. That's against the rules here." she said with a shake of her head. Cosmo sighed in exasperation.

"Okay. Timothy. If I had my wand, I could fix your room, fix myself and go home to Wanda and Timothy." he amended and Sophia looked at him with wide eyes, on the verge of tears again.

"You'll go away? But, I thought you could stay here with me and be my friend!" she whimpered and began to cry. Cosmo waved his hand at her in a panic.

"Don't cry, don't cry! It makes me wanna cry!" he exclaimed, feeling his own tears start up, "I'll stay here for a while longer, okay? Just don't cry!" Sophia stopped abruptly, sniffling as she rubbed at her eyes.

"P-promise? You'll stay and be my friend?" she asked softly. The fairy stared up at her, then sighed and hung his head.

"I can't promise to stay forever. I have things I have to do." he murmured, then smiled up at her, "But I can stay for as long as it takes for my friends to find me." Sophia tilted her head, thinking it over, then nodded. It seemed good enough. Maybe they wouldn't find him, then she'd have a friend to talk to and play with when Jeanette came, and she wouldn't be lonely and sad anymore.

"Okay." she mumbled and turned back to her closet, "Uh oh. She messed up my closet, too." She looked around at the clothes tossed around and recognized a few had been thrown out of the closet entirely. "Your wand was in my pocket in my jacket. I put my jacket here, but it's not here anymore." Sophia murmured and hurried back into her room, gazing out at the mess of toys and clothes. "I have to find it in all this?" Cosmo joined her, fluttering his good wing out of habit.

"Not good. This could take a while." he sighed and the two of them set to work picking up clothes and toys in search of the red jacket.

* * *

A single black van, unmarked, slowly cruised along the roads of Dimmsdale, trying to avoid the early afternoon traffic. Spread out around it, seeming to jog alongside the vehicle, were more than half a dozen teenagers prowling the sidewalks. They had gone from one mission that took a full night almost immediately into another. Somewhere in Dimmsdale, a beloved member of their team was lost, possibly hurt, probably scared out of his mind.

High above them, a ghostly teenager soared invisibly past buildings and small aircraft, looking around himself worriedly. Quietly relaying information down to his friends through a pair of bright green earring-like communicators, the phantom nodded at a change of direction and altered his flight to continue following the van down below him.

One of the young teenagers peering into alleys and into abandoned containers was Timmy Turner, better known as Timothy Neogene as Dimmsdale and the world in general believed truthfully that Timmy Turner was deceased and had been for four years. Hanging around his neck and shimmering against the black of his stealth outfit was a pink iPod with a golden crown logo displayed beneath the LCD screen. This was Wanda, his fairy godmother and fellow outcast from life and the world, taking the place and guise that her husband, Cosmo, usually held.

Cosmo had been missing for several hours already, deemed MIA since the fall of the third Dark Spire spreading anti-magic over the city.

The van was driven by Caleb, a redheaded angelic android charged with watching over Heroes and the knowledge of the world. In the spacious cargo area of the vehicle, a plush bed took up space, a resting place for members of Team Phantom and Team Turner to retire to when they couldn't go any further in their search for the fairy. The anti-nullifier device that once was located in the Ivory Tower had been relocated to the interior of the truck, providing a short-range barrier against the anti-magic zone. A bubble of protection from the devices that banned wishes, it was a safe haven for the fairies to gather and recover from exposure to the outside field and grant a few wishes.

Clutching umbrellas and checking in constantly with each other through the Fenton Phones, the S-List teenagers continued their search, hampered slightly by the problem of calling out to someone who could not be revealed without jeopardizing their mission. On top of that, they had to resist using magic of any kind, lest they draw the attentions of the anti-magic devices scattered and hidden throughout the downtown district.

"Cosmo? You here? Oh, drats; I think I chipped a nail."

"Come out, Cosmo! Uh, here, kitty, kitty? That's a hint, okay?"

"Hey, little dude! Are you here? Ooh, is that burnt bacon?"

"Cosmo. It's us, Timmy and Wanda. Are you okay? Are you here?"

Soft murmurs, whispers and calls of his name fell from the mouths of each youngster, but no response came to them. Even Timmy's white armband, a magically conjured computer designed to display a map of Dimmsdale in various ways and locate fairies by use of their names and wands, was of very little help. It couldn't locate Cosmo directly using his wand, so it made a rather general search of the city for his wand and located it within the city limits. But the wand had fallen into one of the five remaining nullification zones, so a precise location was impossible to determine. Still, knowing that he was within a thirty-block radius inside that district was somewhat hopeful.

"This is gonna take forever!" Chester complained as the group came together in front of one shop, "Can't we trash some of the nullifiers and anti-magic junk in this place and make another scan or something?"

"That could work. If the nullifiers are throwing off the echolocation scan of Cosmo's wand, then we should shut down as many of them as possible and try it again." A.J. remarked thoughtfully.

"We can use our newly discovered skills and fighting styles to destroy them much faster than Timothy alone could!" Sanjay exclaimed brightly. Elmer looked around the area and scratched his head in mild puzzlement.

"Why do I get a weird feeling about this place?" he muttered to himself. Timmy folded his arms over his chest, thinking hard about the situation. It **would** be easier to get a better scan of the area to find Cosmo's wand if the nullifiers were all destroyed. But the magitech armor that Team Turner wore during the assault on the third Spire had been taken back to the Ivory Tower for minor repairs and data collection, deemed magically unreliable until they managed to make them immune to wishes. Would it really be a good idea to let the other teens attack anti-magic devices without the protective armor? Especially now that he knew Remy was beginning to hide bombs within some of the units?

"I dunno. I can cast _Revive_ on you all to keep you from getting killed, but it's only good once and if something happens to you again..." he began worriedly.

_"Then I will step in and cast _Resurrection_. Honestly, did you really think I'd allow a Hero's allies to die before the mission is completed?"_ Caleb interrupted over the Fenton Phones. Timmy rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Okay. Fine. Whatever. Wanda, you up for some anti-magic device hunting?" he asked the pink iPod. Wanda's face replaced the screen, still a bit tearful from her few hours of sobs and wails.

"If it will help find Cosmo, yeah. Just be careful yourself, Sport. You're all I have left..." the disguised fairy murmured and drowned the rest of her words in tears. Trixie and Tootie both looked faintly uncomfortable; to lose a fairy godparent the way Cosmo was lost could be devastating to anyone, but it was far worse when they were one of a set. Wanda could barely focus and Timothy seemed dead-set on searching the city for him, come Hell or high water and being immortal gave him all the time in the world to do it.

"All right. Then how should we track down the nullifiers? I'm the only one with a portable detector." the brunet questioned the group. The van pulled up beside them and Caleb leaned out the driver's side window, grinning.

"I have an idea. That map of yours can download data from both Fairy World's computers and Earth-based ones, right? Hand off the detector to Chester and let me upload the software for the detector into your map. If it can pick up the signals from a fairy's wand, it can pick up the signals for an anti-magic device." he remarked and pointed up at the sky. "Danny's still doing aerial patrols, so he'll look out for the airborne nullifiers. You guys handle the ground-based units. If you're lucky, most of them will be the stationary ones. The ones on legs are harder to deal with."

"I'll say." Tootie muttered, remembering the drops in mana from the night before each time one of the walking nullifiers ran by her. She watched the brunet hand the small device off to Chester, then head for the van, climbing into the back for the transfer.

"Well, let's get started. He'll join up with us later, I bet." Chester remarked, "Let's stick together so we can overpower nullifiers as a team, 'kay?" The teens nodded and ran off down the sidewalk, following the markers on the screen. Tootie held back, watching them make their way to the first nullifier, then headed for the van herself. She climbed in and smiled up at Timmy, who gave her a startled look.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as she settled on the bed beside him.

"If you're getting an upgrade, I want one too." she remarked and pushed back her hair so her fairy godmother, Andromeda, could poof out of earring mode and float in the air before them. Caleb gave them both a strange look, then shrugged and inserted the cable from his laptop into the armband Timmy wore. "Romi, I wish I had an Adventurer's Map just like Timmy's!" Tootie declared and the fairy waved her wand to grant the wish. A burst of dark blue smoke later, a white metal band similar to the one on Timmy's arm appeared on the young Goth. Tootie looked it over and crinkled her nose. "Can you make it black?" she asked and smiled brightly when Romi tapped it with her wand to change the color, "Thanks!" She held out her arm and grinned. "Look, Timmy! We match now!" she laughed, "This way, we can have three times the search power!" The brunet blinked at her, puzzled, and she squirmed about until she could rest her head against his arm. "I said I was gonna help you any way I could. I want to be strong enough to stand by you." she murmured, "So let's work together and find Cosmo so you can be happy again. You're the Heart of Dimmsdale. If you're not happy, our city isn't happy."

"All right, all right." Timmy sighed in resignation, but cracked a small grin, "If I had only known just how much people here really liked me, maybe I would have been more careful on that jungle gym."

"Upload complete. You're good to go." Caleb remarked and disconnected the teen from his laptop, "All right, Tootie, step up. You're getting hooked up next." Timmy jumped from the bed and headed for the street again.

"Catch you later, Tootie!" he called back cheerfully and leaped out of the van, ready to start the search again.

* * *

Sophia pulled the pockets of her jacket out and whimpered. The wand wasn't in it. Cosmo sighed and sat back against her bookshelf, exhausted from the effort of picking up fallen books and toys with only one hand, his right arm in far too much pain to be moved. The jacket had been found but the wand that was supposed to have been in the pocket was not there.

"I'm sorry." Sophia murmured and sat down amidst the mess of clothes, books, toys and small furniture. "Can we get another one?"

"No, not really." Cosmo muttered and looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the black handle or gold star, "Fairy World gives out only one wand when a fairy's born." He pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead, fighting down the pounding ache that spread through it. "I got that one when I was a baby. There's no way I can get another one; I'm banished from Fairy World so I can't go back and ask for a new one."

"Head hurting?" Sophia asked, watching him with a worried face. She toddled over, picking her way past the mess to sit by him. "Why can't you go to Fairy World? Is that your house? Is that where you live?" Cosmo smiled brightly.

"It's really big and lots of fairies live there on fluffy pink clouds and there are rainbow bridges all over the place! That's how it connects here, with a big rainbow bridge full of pretty color magic!" he exclaimed and looked vaguely thoughtful, "There still isn't a single manly word in that sentence. Oh well." He went on to describe what he could focus on, the streets that alternated between being covered in gold to being covered in shiny pebbles that were lost to the rivers and oceans to being paved with playing cards; the little diner where he worked as a young fairy and saw Wanda for the first time, falling in love right on the spot after accidentally spilling food all over her; the Fairy Academy he'd been dragged off to by his mother to get his uncontrollable magic fine-tuned and to keep him away from Wanda.

He never did get control of his magic, not until after it was sorely needed to defend Timmy and Wanda.

Sophia listened with wide eyes, captivated by the stories Cosmo told her. She giggled through his description of his wedding and how he misplaced the ring and frantically tore through the chapel in search of it, only to discover that he'd placed it in his other pocket, and booed at the mentions of Jorgen and his harsh punishments for his mistakes in training, sinking Atlantis multiple times, wiping out Pompeii by accident, and creating Pittsburgh out of the blue. History, as written by Caleb, had scrambled to find a logical cover-up for that one.

"So you're a grown-up fairy! But you are little, like me!" she pointed out and stood up, helping Cosmo stand for comparison, "Just like me!" He nodded, grinning. "And Wan-dah is another fairy, too? Small, like me?" He nodded again and Sophia laughed, lifting her arms and stamping her feet in place excitedly. "Daddy Fairy and Mommy Fairy! Where's the baby?" she squealed and Cosmo sat back down, shaking his head.

"No baby. Sorry." he sighed sadly. Sophia stopped her dance and looked down at him, puzzled.

"No baby fairy? Why?" she asked, "You don't like babies?" Cosmo shrugged vaguely, gazing off at the pile of pink and red and white items scattered across the floor.

"Too sad. Wanda was too sad." he finally mumbled, "She got a baby, a cute one, once. But it got taken away." He toyed with the ribbon that bandaged his hand and shrugged again. "I thought it was cute too, but I guess somebody else wanted it. Wanda was sad, so she didn't want to get another one." He smiled suddenly. "Then we got Timmy, and everything was okay again!"

"You can't call him 'Timmy'." Sophia murmured softly, "Who is he?" Cosmo shrugged a third time.

"Someone special. Very special. He made Wanda happy. He makes me happy. It was supposed to be the other way." he replied and laughed, "We made him happy because he made us happy!"

A banging on the door startled them both and Cosmo shut his eyes tightly. A wand wasn't needed to transform shape, but it helped with the effort. Pop! He took the form of a stuffed green teddy bear, flopping back against the rest of the mess of toys and stifling a cry of pain as something jabbed into his shoulder. Sophia watched in surprise as the door flew open and Jeanette stuck her head in, eyes narrowed.

"I heard laughing! You're not supposed to be having _fun_; you're supposed to be miserable as hell, you runt!" the teen spat out, sending the little girl scrambling to get away. Cosmo stared up at the babysitter unblinkingly. Jeanette glared at him suspiciously. "I don't remember you having a _green_ teddy bear in this place, what with all the pink and red junk your parents keep heaping on you." she growled.

"It's new! I got it from my grandpa!" Sophia yelled, "It was in my Mommy and Daddy's room and I got it and it's mine! Leave it alone! It's mine!" She ran after the babysitter as she snatched up the bear by the black tie wrapped around its neck, the tiny carving on its cord dangling alongside the tie.

"Well, it's mine now, runt!" Jeanette taunted and laughed maliciously, "And do you know what I do to **my** teddy bears?" Sophia froze in place, little hands raised up to her mouth as her eyes went wide.

"N-n-no. What do you do?" she stammered fearfully.

"Anything I want!" the babysitter crowed and slammed the door closed, her laughter ringing throughout the apartment as she walked away with Cosmo in hand. Sophia dropped to the ground, tossing aside toys and books in a frantic search for the wand. If she had it, maybe she could help her new friend. Meanie Jeanie was mean for a reason, and her poor fairy friend wasn't healthy enough to deal with her!

* * *

Master Control Spire~

Crocker sat at the drawing board, sketching out rough drafts for what would become the latest addition to the anti-magic device classes. The other Spires had received their orders from Master Control; double the search for the fairy whose DNA matched the sample in their databanks. Leave nothing untouched. If the fairy that had successfully been captured, then lost, that night was the same fairy, then wonderful! That single fairy could potentially hold enough magical influence to grant the wish that could restore Dimmsdale's hopes and dreams.

It would take a while to design and begin the manufacture of these new units, roughly a month if Remy threw enough money at him. Oh, yes, that's right; he had to let the boy know another of his towers was gone. Crocker snickered and clapped his hands together gleefully. Let them fall; let them all fall to the ground in glorious black granite and steel rubble! He didn't care, not at all. Yes, he designed them; yes, he improved on them, but it was all to make the new Timmy stronger. After all, it was far more fun to watch Remy be defeated by someone who trained using his Spires than to have some form of fairy punishment fall on his head for creating the blanket of darkness to begin with.

Fairies! The thought of it brought a renewed vigor and life to him that he thought he'd never have again. The chance to experiment on them again was elating. In the first year or so of the nullification field being placed on Dimmsdale, dozens of fairies had been captured and brought to him. He tested his theories of magic transferal on them, creating machines to siphon off magic and encapsulate it for later use. Those fairies had shriveled to dust, their magic lost in the moments of their deaths, so those had been utter failures.

But if he could get a fairy to stay alive throughout the procedure, to live through the draining of their magical strength, then he would have the window of opportunity to grant his own wish. Fairies were immortal, true, but drain them of magic and they died just like any other living creature. They just couldn't die from time. And injuries were easy to deal with, long as they had magic. Instantaneous healing!

Only, take away the magic, and they were as vulnerable as humans. More so, as sometimes their ages caught up with them once Nature realized what had taken place and swooped in for the kill. Not often, but it happened before his eyes several times. A few of the fairies chose to suicide rather than let him steal their magic, forcefully turning their power on themselves in a violent implosion that left little in the way of evidence of their existence.

It was irksome but what could he do? Sedate the little cretins and hope it didn't dilute the magic?

No matter. A month to create his new units and the new Timmy would have to prove to him again if he was as adaptable as the original had been. Could he outwit that which was designed to outwit what had outwitted the Spires?

Confusing, true, but that was the beauty of it.

He returned to the designs before him, smiling. This was going to be fun. Oh yes, he was going to enjoy this battle, matching his genius and technology against Timmy's magic and spirit. This was how it had been long ago, this was how it should have been for years and years. It was late in coming and the boys were different, though not by much. Close enough; he could consider this to be a relatively well-matched fight.

"Turner, your namesake is going to be so much fun to play with. Tell me, how are you working through him, if you are? You must be, to send so many fairies after me for vengeance." he murmured, pencils flying across the drafting paper, "Soon, dear child, very soon. Soon I'll have the power to bring you back, and all the sorrow, all the misery, all the darkness in Dimmsdale will fade away with your coming. Almost biblical, neh?"


	2. Chapter 2

2

"Ow!" Elmer whined, falling back on his seat as the ground nullifier shoved past him and stomped out of the alley hurriedly, "Hey! It's getting away!" Sanjay paused to help him up as A.J. and Chester chased after it, Trixie following them with excited yells.

They had run into a few of the stationary nullifiers behind buildings, inside crates and on the roofs of some shops. The ground units that were mobile were far more annoying, as they ran from the teens as soon as they were spotted. Between Elmer's hurling of the devices, Trixie's karate punches and Chester's flurries of roundhouse kicks, most of the units didn't have a chance to survive. It was the ground units on their stubby metal legs that irritated them.

"C'mon! Let's get 'em!" Chester whooped and raced down the sidewalk after it. People dodged out of the way, yelling in a mix of fury and alarm at the sight of something mechanical racing down the street and being chased by a bunch of kids. The blonde tapped at his Fenton Phones, opening communication lines. "Hey! We got one on the run! It's heading down Citrus Lane!"

_"Oh sure, just chase it onto the same road I'm taking."_ Timothy grumbled through the Phones, _"Will you back off already, you stupid thing?"_

Just down the street from where the rest of Team Turner was hunting down the fleeing nullifier, the young immortal swung the Thunder Scepter over his head and slammed it onto an aerial fairy trap. He straightened, watching the electricity dance across the hull of the round device as he panted softly. Anti-magic units in this part of Dimmsdale seemed to have been put on a really high alert. What triggered that? Could Crocker have caught onto something he didn't think of?

"Cosmo's lost somewhere here. The units are programmed to hunt down anything that's got his DNA, or in other words, Cosmo himself." he murmured softly, "Are they all going crazy now because they're picking up traces of him in this area, too, but they can't quite pinpoint him?" He jerked his head up at the sound of his friends' yells and spun around, sweeping the Thunder Scepter aside to knock over the nullifier before it could emit another of those anti-magic pulses.

"Hey! Sweet, you got it!" Chester remarked brightly as the team slowed to a stop around him, "So is that enough for a good scan or do we need to smash a few more?"

"Dunno. Let me give it a shot." Timothy returned and held up his arm, "Fairy wand locator, Active Mode. Locate subject, Cosmo Cosma." The virtual map bloomed over the band as text scrolled along it, starting up the program for echolocation scanning. A few minutes passed as the group waited, watching the pulses of magic from Fairy World rain upon the city. A second flare of pink shot up from the distance and the golden star reappeared on the map.

"Well, that narrowed it down by another few blocks." A.J. sighed, watching the flare disappear into the sky. Trixie shielded her eyes, gazing up at the pink star that vanished beyond the clouds.

"If those skyscrapers hadn't been in the way, we could probably have traced it back down to the ground." she remarked and giggled, "It's like a rocket or a firecracker! Cool!" Timothy touched fingers to the Fenton Phones.

"Caleb, we've got a narrowed down location. If you've still got Tootie with you, have her do the same search and meet us within that area!" he called out and motioned to his friends, "Come on! Cosmo must be that way!" They raced across the street towards the source of the pink flare. If the anti-magic devices had been put on a much higher alert than normal in their efforts to find Cosmo first, then there wasn't much time for them to comb the downtown district for him.

* * *

Sophia jumped back in alarm as a pink flare suddenly shot up from among her toys. Crawling towards the pile where it came from, she picked and tossed apart the dolls and books. At the bottom of the mess, golden star shimmering beautifully, was the little wand that she had found with Cosmo. She snatched it up and clutched it tightly in her hands. She found it, she found it! Now all Sophia had to do was get it into Cosmo's hands and everything would be okay.

Opening her door was less difficult this time, Sophia just piled a few books and toys up to stand on and turned the knob slowly. She pushed the door open carefully and peeked out of her room into the rest of the apartment. Where was Jeanette? Sophia padded out of her bedroom, holding the wand in her hand. She heard voices from the kitchen and softly toddled to the entrance, huddling down by the wall to listen.

"Aren't you a weird-looking little thing?" the babysitter crooned, "All that pink and red and white stuff in that room, and all of a sudden something green pops up. Isn't that one of the signs of a fairy in the house?" There was a bit of quiet before she started again. "You're awfully quiet. But, don't you know that I'm **way** different than that other idiot babysitter that dealt with runts before me?" Jeanette purred darkly, "See, unlike Vicky, I was hired by Remy to find you little freaks of nature and take you to him. I know all about you little critters, so you can just go ahead and drop that stupid cover." Sophia gulped and peered around the edge of the wall as her babysitter grinned down at the bear that sat on the table, staring up at her blankly. Jeanette reached down and tickled the bear's nose until Cosmo couldn't take it and promptly sneezed, popping out of his guise. "Hah! Gotcha!" the babysitter crowed and folded her arms onto the tabletop, smiling at the green-haired fairy scowling back at her, "So, you must be Sophia's fairy godparent. Man, this family sucks; figures their kid would get a crappy little guy like you. What chewed you up and spat you back out?"

"You make kids miserable so they get fairies, then you kidnap the fairies for Remy. That's not nice." Cosmo growled. Jeanette shrugged uncaringly.

"So? I get paid for it; that's all that matters to me." she returned and held up a cell phone, shaking it at him, "Just one phone call and a cool million bucks is in my bank account. And the sad thing is, you can't do anything to me about it. We're in a zone of anti-magic, thanks to Remy's sweet little Spires. Transforming's about the only thing you're allowed to do in here."

"Then I can do **this**!" Cosmo cheered and leaped from the table, popping into a more human form that eliminated his crown and wings. Jeanette yelled in a fury and chased after him, waving her fists in the air as the fairy raced for the door, throwing it open and escaping the apartment. Sophia jumped up and waved her hands as she followed after the two of them as fast as her little legs could move.

"Wait, wait! Come back! Leave him alone, you meanie! Come back!" she wailed. This wasn't going well at all! She cried as she began climbing down the stairs one step at a time. Her fairy friend was going to be taken away if she couldn't get his wand to him; not fair, not fair! She found him, she was taking care of him, he promised to be with her until his friends found him! Jeanette was ruining everything again!

* * *

Remy lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. Still in shock over his near brush with obliteration, his mind kept flitting back to that moment on the lot where Spire Five was being assaulted by the kids that sided with Timmy Turner so often. That furious look on Timothy's face... it seemed strangely familiar, as though he'd seen that same expression somewhere before. But as often as Remy jabbed at Neogene, the brunet had never gotten angry enough to make that face before.

He took the attack on that blonde redneck almost personally.

"If I had to choose between Timothy Neogene and Timmy Turner for a rival, I would have kept the Turner boy." Remy finally mumbled and looked over at Juandissimo, "Is it possible to change the past, so that I wouldn't have to deal with either Timothy or Turner?" The Latino paused and looked evasive.

"Ah, my little _amigo_, I am afraid that such a wish cannot be granted. The collective powers and magic of Fairy World's military and ruling fairies cannot change the path that true love took to bring them both to existence." he remarked slowly and twirled his wand absently, "It is all very complicated, too many lives are tangled together and, as you should know, no wish that involves Timmy Turner can be granted."

"So then Timothy Neogene can't be affected because he possesses a direct connection to the Turner boy?" Remy asked in confusion. The fairy godfather gulped, realizing he let slip some information he shouldn't have and was only glad that his godchild hadn't made the right connection.

"In so many words, yes. He has a connection to Timmy that renders him immune to wishes." he answered carefully.

The computer in Remy's room beeped an alert and he sat up, looking over at the machine dully. Well, might as well get up now; he'd been lying there for a good part of the day and it just wouldn't look good to Dimmsdale to be a bed-ridden slob. He rolled out of bed, straightened himself up and headed towards the computer, clicking on the alert. A message bloomed onto the screen, a few words of rambling that amounted only to the fact that the third spire in the last couple of months had finally fallen to the brunet and his allies. Remy sighed harshly, slamming a fist against his desk.

It wasn't fair! How was this kid managing to **do** this? The Spires were supposed to have been protected by the traps set up within the building! Those brats hadn't been able to get inside to disable them; he'd personally seen them just running around outside the tower like a flock of chickens with their heads cut off.

But then there was that far off explosion, and units were raining down on the lot. Had that running around actually been part of a plan? Remy tapped out an address on the keyboard, opening a connection to the Master Control Spire where Crocker lived and worked since the deal between them had first been struck.

"Crocker! You senile old fool! You assured me those traps were fool-proof!" he barked at the man in a fury, "What the hell caused them to fail this time?"

_"Server overload. I told you it was a danger to the system."_ the retired teacher chuckled, _"He's a creative one. What he lacks in intelligence, he makes up for it in creating unusual plans that actually work. He's quite imaginative, don't you think?"_

"It's as annoying as Turner's little half-baked schemes in the past." Remy grumbled, "I rather despise that mongrel, so do not waste my time praising the little wretch. What are you going to do about the weakness in the server control system?" Crocker grinned and a file was sent across the line to the young millionaire's computer. He clicked it open and studied the image carefully. "Crocker, forgive me for sounding doltish, but what the bloody hell is this and why should I care?" the blonde growled irritably.

_"This is the design for a device that will remedy the server system issue, at least when it comes to the control of the anti-magic devices."_ Crocker returned smoothly, tapping his fingertips together, _"I call it a control unit, and with the proper funding, you'll have an army of these at every tower within the month." _Remy blinked and gave the image another look. The sketch didn't look like much, just another floating sphere with a pair of antennae, two additional black strips of mysterious metal along the top and bottom of the sphere and two 'eyes' that usually alerted one to whether or not a unit was active. Was this little thing really the answer to Timothy's latest strategy to disable and destroy the Dark Spires?

"All right. I'll wire the funds accordingly." Remy finally declared, "How far along are we in perfecting the nullification field? And in the construction of the replacement Spires? What of that device I sent you that Timothy uses to hunt our devices?"

_"The remaining Dark Spires report an increase to eighty-nine percent anti-magic output. Reconstruction of Spire Seven is currently delayed due to the weather but it has the groundwork almost done. Cleanup of Spire Six is roughly eighty percent complete and an investigation team has been dispatched to see what damages were done to Spire Five."_ the retired teacher remarked blandly, _"Units from Spire Four are still reported as missing and Spires Three to One, as well as the Master Control Spire, are refining the software for the nullification field. As for that little gadget... well, I've opened it up and taken a look at it, but the technology used in its construction is far beyond anything I've ever seen before. I daresay it seems almost magical in nature. I'll need more time to fully comprehend what I'm holding in my hands."_

"I've lost three of my beautiful Spires to that wretched little mongrel; I will not allow him to take down the remaining five left in this city!" Remy hissed and curled his fingers into his palms, face turning red with anger, "I will drown this world in misery unless this city grants me that title!"

_"Look, this may sound stupid, but why the hell are you obsessed with that anyway?"_ Crocker grumbled, cleaning off his glasses idly, _"Before Timmy Turner's death, the title never existed and no one really cared to come up with it. The only reason there **is** such a thing as the Heart of Dimmsdale is because the city as a whole refers to Timmy as that." _He shrugged. _"It's not like getting voted Miss Dimmsdale; there is no contest to gain that title, it's just there because that's what everyone calls him."_ The teacher smiled brightly, _"Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a fairy lost in Dimmsdale that is just begging to be experimented on. I'll leave you to your ramblings." _With that the connection dropped.

"I want that title because it belongs to Timmy." Remy grumbled under his breath, flopping back in a chair, "Everything that belonged to him, I want it. I want it taken away, I want it destroyed, I want it to belong to **me**. I want it because it made him happy and I deserve to be happier!" He jumped back up, grinning. "Well, this is where it pays to have a fairy godparent! Juandissimo!"

"_Dios mio_, what now?" the Latino sighed, flipping through the pages of El Rules.

"Read me the section of that blasted book that concerns wishes about Timmy Turner! I want to be sure of something." the blonde declared and Juandissimo gave him a wary look before flipping towards the back of the book.

"Turner, Turner, Turner..." he muttered, searching for the section, "Ah, here we are. Ahem. _'All fairy-granted wishes that directly affect the child known as Timothy Tiberius Turner, commonly known as Timmy Turner, are hereby forbidden. Fairy magic is not allowed to be used concerning Timmy Turner, his name or his likeness. Whatever possesses this connection to Turner cannot be wished away, destroyed, damaged or altered by any other fairy of Fairy World...'_" Juandissimo paused and lifted an eyebrow. "Ah... this is strange... why would it have that idiot's name here if he is no longer among the living?"

"Fairies can't grant wishes that involve Timmy Turner. Does that extend to wishes granted by anti-fairies?" Remy mused aloud, pacing back and forth. The Latino lifted his head from the book, narrowing his eyes at his godchild.

"Anti-fairies do not grant wishes unless it suits their own desires. _Mi amigo_, don't invite more trouble than you can deal with. You have issues enough as it is." he pointed out warningly and returned to El Rules, "I can understand the ruling for Wanda, but why would Cosmo be included if he was executed for failing to prevent Timmy's death?" Remy ignored his godfather, already crafting a plan in his mind. Fairy magic wouldn't touch anything concerning Timmy, Timothy or anything that bore Timmy's title of Heart of Dimmsdale, and that included their names and likenesses. That left few magical creatures that weren't bound to that rule, among them were anti-fairies, genies, and the like.

For the sake of convenience, he would start by interrogating an anti-fairy to see if one of them would ally with him in the erasing of the remaining traces of Timmy Turner and in defeating that annoying little immortal from New York. Only how was he to gain the attention of an anti-fairy? He didn't have much knowledge on the creatures beyond the understanding that they were exact opposites of normal fairies and lived in Anti-Fairy World, a vast prison constructed to keep them sealed up. He poked at Juandissimo for more information.

"Repulsive little things. They cause bad luck and escape Fairy World's prisons on Friday the Thirteenth each year to generate enough to make people miserable." the Latino remarked, flipping between pages of the book, "They usually appear whenever a trigger for bad luck is activated, like spilling salt, breaking a mirror, or having a black cat cross your path. However, since there will be no Friday the Thirteenth until next month, no anti-fairy will be able to come if you activate the trigger." Remy sighed in disappointment.

"Are you sure? Not even one?" he asked. Juandissimo tilted his head thoughtfully.

"Well, I've heard that one escaped a few years ago and was never recaptured. Far too elusive, that one." the fairy remarked and shrugged, "If you set off a trigger, maybe that anti-fairy will appear. I still think you shouldn't bother. Timmy is dead and gone, correct? Just let him lie and focus on your current problems." The blonde only cheered and hurried off excitedly. With a sigh of exasperation, Juandissimo poofed the book of El Rules away and flew after him.

* * *

Timmy leaned back against the front of a shop, half-listening to Chet Ubetcha's repeated reports on alien invaders buzzing around Dimmsdale. The remainders of Team Turner were busy with phone calls, apologizing to parents, soothing fears and worries, hurriedly coming up with stories to explain why they had never shown up at home the night before. He rolled his eyes and looked skyward, hoping to see his cousin fly overhead, but no. Danny wasn't taking chances on Dimmsdale's suddenly hyped-up tension and remained invisible to human eyes.

"Any luck on your end?" the brunet asked softly.

_"Sorry. I haven't seen any sign of him. I did run across a building that had a lot of broken windows. I snooped around a bit and listened in on the investigation team. Sounds like a bunch of capture units flew through it but only one of them survived an explosion."_ the halfa returned, _"Also, I'm noticing a lot of activity at the sites of the first two Spires we destroyed. These guys we're dealing with don't give up. They're rebuilding the first Spire we took out and are probably planning to do the same with the other ones."_

"What?" Timmy exclaimed, catching several glares from the teens around him. He gave them a sheepish grin and jogged a few feet away from them. Returning to the conversation, he kept his voice lower. "Rebuilding the Spires? Are you sure?"

_"I'm not blind, Tim-Tim. That's definitely groundwork for a tower there. The rain's stalled the construction, so there's nobody there right now."_ his cousin answered dryly.

"Could you go back and destroy it? I can't let Remy get that Spire rebuilt; we're barely holding our own against his current ones!" the brunet whispered harshly and looked around himself, a sudden strange feeling prickling the back of his neck.

_"I dunno. Sam's calling in about some weirdo reports about aliens in the city. If I blast that thing with the Ghost Ray, won't that just stir up the whole place?"_

"This is Dimmsdale, Danny. Shoot the tower and everyone will be busy running away from the site, not towards it. Even our crazy people aren't crazy enough to check it out." Timmy returned sarcastically.

_"Well, you're the boss here. Call you again in about twenty minutes. I'm pulling Sam and Tucker along with me. Good luck looking for Cosmo."_ With that, the halfa's voice faded and the connection ended. Wanda looked up at her godchild worriedly.

"I don't like the sound of that. Remy's rebuilding the Dark Spires?" she questioned softly, "It was hard enough watching you go into the first two on your own, especially since both times I thought..." She began to cry again and Timmy lifted up the iPod, shaking his head.

"Don't cry, Wanda. I'm okay. I got through those towers okay." he murmured and rubbed his finger gently against the edge of the player, "It'll be all right. We'll find Cosmo and we'll head back home to rest. I need to start figuring out how to get in touch with Chip Skylark and Mark Chang. The world hadn't blown up the first year that passed since I died, so either Mark's not here anymore or something happened to keep him from blasting the place apart with his appendix." He looked aside, peering into a nearby alley in suspicion. "Do you hear a weird humming sound?" he asked. Wanda's eyes went wide and she blinked in confusion.

"Huh? I thought that was from the Fenton Phones. What is that?" she murmured and Timmy lifted up the Adventurer's Map, commanding it to show him a scan of the nearby area.

"Looks like... a fairy trap?" he remarked, baffled, and jumped back with a start as the aerial unit shot out of the alley, net swinging about wildly. It spun into the air, alerting the other S-List teens, then dove for the brunet once more.

"Hey! Hey! Knock it off!" Chester yelled angrily, clapping his phone closed and shoving it into his pocket, "Hey, Tricks! That thing's zeroing in on Timothy!"

"No way! Back off; that guy's mine!" Trixie declared and pointed at it, "Apollo! I wish that thing was on Mars, too!" Her pendant shone brightly as Timmy ducked the capture unit once again. In a blast of red smoke, the sphere and net was gone, dumped off-world with the rest of its comrades. The teens gathered around him, asking if he was all right, as the black van pulled up alongside him. Tootie leaned out the passenger window and waved at them.

"Hey, guys! I did a quick scan and it says that Cosmo's wand is somewhere up ahead! We've got a twenty-block area to check and no time to waste! Let's go!" she called out with a laugh. She pat the door and pointed ahead. "Onwards, angel-man! Gun it!"

"Stop calling me 'angel-man', please. It's getting on my nerves." Caleb sighed but drove off anyway. Chester whooped, thrusting a fist into the air.

"We're getting closer! I can smell it! Charge, gang!" he declared and raced off with the S-List hot on his heels. A.J. hung back and pat Timmy on the shoulder.

"Kind of annoying having to deal with those things, huh? Maybe you should have left your armor back at the Tower like the rest of us." he pointed out and hurried off, "Chester! Wait up!" Timmy blinked in confusion, watching them run ahead of him. After a moment, he lifted one arm and pulled his sleeve back, looking down at his bare arm.

"But I **did** leave it behind." he murmured, puzzled, "Why are the units still locking onto me?"

"They're probably picking me up, not you." Wanda reassured him, "After all, I'm Cosmo's wife, so I probably have a few things on me that have a hair or something on them." The brunet blinked down at her, then shrugged and jogged off after the group. Sounded reasonable enough and who was he to doubt Wanda? She was a heck of a lot smarter about things than either him or Cosmo!

* * *

Dodging around people on the streets, soaked by the rain once again, Cosmo was not enjoying the chase at all. He'd had enough of those last night and his aching back demanded he plop himself down somewhere and _rest_. Fall asleep and not wake up until this whole hellish mess blew over, his body had recovered from all the crud it went through and somebody he knew and trusted found him first.

He paused to catch his breath, leaning against a building as he studied his bandaged hand once again. The pink ribbon was darkened in some places, and it was now itching. He unwound the strip of satin and dropped it aside, peering at the cuts on his hand from where he gripped the shard of glass that he used to cut through the butterfly net last night. They had stopped bleeding, crusted over but still stinging from their new exposure to air and moisture.

Well, at least something was healing. Cosmo had no idea what the condition was now of his back and right wing, but it was going to take longer to heal if he couldn't get his wand back. He jerked his head up with a gasp. That's right; the wand! Sophia was still looking for it!

"Get back here, you super-sized pipsqueak!" Jeanette yelled out over the crowds. Cosmo sighed and shook his head. Oh, that's right; he had the babysitter on his tail. He turned around, peered through the mass of people and spotted the lanky teen racing through them all to reach him. A sudden thought occurred to him, unhindered this time by both the dark voice and the annoying elevator music. If Jeanette was running down the streets of Dimmsdale in her hunt for him, who was taking care of Sophia?

"Ah!" Cosmo yelped in shock and darted back down the way he came. Could he remember the paths he took in his escape? Well, he ran straight away from the apartment, so if he ran straight back, he should come across the building again. He dashed past the babysitter, ignoring her yells for him to stay put. A kid was home alone, a very little kid! The fairy godparent in him would **not** let something like that continue; no wand, no magic, barely enough strength to keep himself moving without wings, but that wasn't going to stop him from fulfilling his duties as a fairy godfather.

Even if the kid wasn't his and Da Rules stated he was bound to Timmy for eternity.

A sudden slip on the wet pavement, his black dress shoes weren't made for this weather, and Cosmo went down with a startled cry. The world spun as several people stopped to gather around him, murmuring words of concern and surprise. He lifted a hand to his head, wincing in pain. Great; first he gets a wing torn and glass jabs the back of his shoulder, now he smacks his head against concrete. What more could go wrong?

A buzzing, a humming and Cosmo just about burst into tears. Those were the sounds of anti-magic devices gearing up for a hunt. Even in the rain they managed to pick up on his DNA. He rolled aside, got to his feet as he tried to push the throbbing ache in his head out of mind. Someone touched his shoulder and he glanced aside in a panic.

"Hey, man, you all right? Took a nasty fall there." a businessman remarked worriedly.

"There's blood on his shirt! Were you mugged or something?" a woman added in alarm, "Should I call 9-1-1? I'm calling for an ambulance!"

"Sophia? I'm looking for Sophia." Cosmo mumbled dazedly, looking around himself in confusion. Why weren't these people pointing and yelling 'Fairy! Fairy!'? He looked down at himself; oh, yeah. He was in a human form, adult-sized.

"Eeks! Alien!" another woman suddenly screamed, pointing skyward. The green-haired fairy looked aside at her in alarm, then followed her arm, staring at a batch of aerial capture units zooming in on him.

"Gotta go!" he cried and raced off again. People scattered in a panic as the units rushed among them in the chase, followed quickly by Jeanette as she waved a fist in the air. As the mob spilled into the streets, cars swerved to avoid collisions and smashed into buildings and signposts instead. Cosmo winced at the sounds of screeching tires and screaming people. This wasn't going to look good on his permanent record as a fairy godparent, but then that was assuming his record still existed in Fairy World.

"Sophia!" he called out, dodging traps as he ran, "Sophia!" Not good, not good. As the traps continued following him, so did the rampaging of the people around him, scattering in frantic frenzies as they spotted the aerial units and bolted for cover, holding Jeanette back until she was lost in the crowd. Swept up in the chaos, Cosmo yelled out the girl's name a third time, swallowed up by the mob as they rushed for the protection of buildings around them. "Let me out!" he cried and slipped under the rush of pedestrians converging inside a local restaurant. This time, he didn't recover from the fall, blacking out with a soft grunt of pain from the collision with the tile within the pizzeria.

* * *

Remy sat at the dining table, smiling excitedly as he kept his gaze on the shaker of salt. Juandissimo floated by him, flipping through El Rules again in confusion. Everything was ready, all that was left was for him to knock over the shaker and summon an anti-fairy. Clapping his hands with barely restrained anticipation, Remy licked his lips, then reached out delicately, tapping the edge of the shaker with a fingertip. It toppled over, spilling salt across the fine white linen of the tablecloth.

Silence ruled the dining room as he waited. Juandissimo merely licked his fingers and turned a page.

"I knew this would happen. **Now** will you listen to reason?" he sighed and Remy's face twisted in frustration.

"I thought you said there was one anti-fairy loose in the world!" he snapped at his godfather and both boy and fairy jumped as a cloud of pale blue smoke exploded into the room.

It dissipated to reveal a dark blue-skinned fairy standing on the tabletop, grinning evilly at them both as he tapped a black star-topped wand against one arm, both of them folded neatly over his chest. Black bat's wings stretched from his back as a fine dark derby hat floated over his head, cobalt blue hair styled in a familiarly messy fashion that hung over his eyes. Clad in a stylish blue English coat with ruffled neckerchief folded down and over the front, black pants and black dress shoes, the anti-fairy studied the two of them with glittering green eyes, a black-rimmed monocle set over his right eye and connected on a slender silver chain to a stud in his right ear.

"Well, well, well! Isn't **this** a lovely change from the norm?" the fairy remarked in a bright and cheerful English accent, "Just when I thought I was going to be bored out of my mind until next Friday the Thirteenth, some stupid little twit decided to go ahead and invite a little bad luck into his life!"

_"Cosmo?"_ both Juandissimo and Remy blurted out in shock and the anti-fairy's face immediately changed from darkly cheerful to wary and suspicious.

"Of course not, you little fools. I'm the **Anti**-Cosmo. Beside the point, how do the two of you know of my moronic counterpart?" he questioned and took to the air, flapping his bat wings to keep suspended, "It's been years since I last laid eyes on him and, though the respite from his idiocy was highly welcomed, it did present me with a sense of ennui after a few months."

"He was the fairy godfather to that wretched little Timmy Turner long ago, along with Wanda. We've clashed several times and in every encounter he managed to gain the upper hand and escape punishment!" Remy grumbled, "Now that Timmy's dead and gone, I want to take control of this world and cover it in misery for failing to pay attention to me and grant me happiness **I** deserve. Only thing is, I'm being foiled by this pain in the arse immortal named Timothy Neogene and no fairy's magic can touch that brat!" He tapped his fingers against the table, grinning fiercely.

"And even though he managed to get his hands on Wanda, releasing her from whatever punishment should have been inflicted on her for letting their godchild die, he cannot use her magic to his advantage." he went on, "He can, however, toss her at Juandissimo and completely screw over any attempts on my end to wish the advantage back to me in battle." Remy sat back, looking up at the anti-fairy smugly as his fairy godfather fluttered closer and peered at Anti-Cosmo in confusion. "Now, being an anti-fairy and opposed to all that the normal fairies represent and do, you are being offered a marvelous deal. Join with me in my plans and grant the wishes that will affect dear Timothy and erase any mentions of Timmy's existence, and I'll allow you and your kind to roam the world once I've conquered it, spreading your bad luck to everyone for as long as you like without fear of capture from the fairies!"

Anti-Cosmo glared back at the Latino fairy and gave a small snort of disdain in warning, shooing Juandissimo back behind Remy for protection. He tilted his head, looking down at the boy with the same wary expression.

"Let me see if I have this correct. You are presently attempting to create a world filled with misery, but a young immortal is thwarting your every move to press on with this plot." the anti-fairy remarked slowly, "Your wishes do not affect him, so you are asking for an anti-fairy to use magic against this child." Remy nodded eagerly.

"And in exchange, you and all your anti-friends can cause even more misery and bad luck for other people without fear of repercussion from Fairy World!" he exclaimed, "It's a wonderful deal with benefits for the both of us! What do you say?"

"Absolutely not." Anti-Cosmo returned coldly, "Furthermore, ask any other anti-fairy to aid you in that fruitless effort and you shall receive the same answer." Remy stared up at him in disbelief. "I am, after all, the one who tells all anti-fairies what to do, and I commanded each and every single last one of them to not use their black magic on the three who are immune to fairy-granted wishes." the blue-toned fairy went on, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a spot of bad luck to bestow upon your dim little head." Juandissimo flew out, wand at the ready and the anti-fairy lashed back, aiming his own wand at the Latino. "I wouldn't interfere if I were you, good chap. You know Da Rules; you can't stop me from using my magic, only dampen the effect of what I do." he warned and pulled out a sheet of paper, adjusting his monocle as he read through it. "Now let's see here. What shall I do to make your misery even more miserably wretched and miserable?"

"Anti-fairies are mirror images of fairies, and for every fairy that is born, an anti-fairy is born as well." Juandissimo mused aloud, watching the blue-toned fairy carefully, "So it should be common sense that if a fairy dies, their anti-fairy dies as well?" Anti-Cosmo peered over the top edge of his paper, narrowed eyes aimed at him.

"Yeeesss... What's your point?" he questioned.

"If you're alive, then Cosmo is as well, no?"

"Of course the bloke's **alive**. I'm quite certain that if Cosmo were to knock off, I'd be the first to know." the anti-fairy returned sarcastically and returned to his sheet.

"But Wanda said he'd been executed!" Juandissimo blurted out in astonishment and the other fairy lifted his head with an irritated expression.

"Then she _lied_ to you, you ignoramus, now will you shut up and let me concentrate on this?" he snapped back and rolled the paper up, "Ugh, at this point, the only bit of bad luck I can conjure up for you is helping your rival once. Now I'll be on my way to give them a hand so that you can wallow in misery for a little while longer. Good day!" He shook his head in exasperation. "Oh! I meant 'Bad day' not 'Good day'! Blast these moments of daftness!" He waved his wand and anti-poofed out of the manor. Remy blinked and shot his fairy a glare.

"So then this means that Cosmo **isn't** pushing up daisies?" he growled at the Latino as he conjured up a handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes.

"I'm afraid not, little _amigo_. Oh, weeping is so un_sexy_ but it's all I can do, now that my dear Wanda was revealed to be lying to me!" he exclaimed and Remy threw his hands up in exasperation.

"What rotten luck!" he cried and Juandissimo glared at him.

"I told you summoning an anti-fairy would have been a bad idea!" he returned dryly, then went back to weeping dramatically into his handkerchief.


	3. Chapter 3

3

Sophia huddled in the doorway of a small shop, soaked through her pink nightgown by rain and too afraid of all the sounds of traffic and rushing people to think straight. She clutched the little gold star-topped wand in one hand, hoping her little friend was all right. Most of all, she hoped her parents would find her and take her home. She was cold and hungry and shivering. This whole day, not including meeting her new little friend Cosmo, was just plain horrible!

From her vantage point, Sophia watched people rushing around the city, oblivious to her and her misery. Looking skyward, she could see another of the strange pink waterfalls coming down on Dimmsdale. There had been a lot of those coming down from the sky. Was something going on?

The wand glowed softly in her hand and she held it up, curious as she watched the pink stuff fall on it and then shoot back up into the air, way up high. Was it doing that for a reason? Why? Sophia watched the pink rocket until it was so high up, it hurt her neck to keep watching it. It was pretty, but it didn't do anything else.

Should she keep looking for Cosmo, or stay put out of the rain and hope he found her first? Sophia shifted uncomfortably in the shop's doorway, then sighed and toddled off, both hands lifted over her head in attempts to stop the rain from dropping on her. Cosmo was her friend, and he promised to stay with her until his friends found him, so she had to be a good friend, too, and go look for him as well.

Past the people murmuring about aliens, past the weirdo big kids peeking into dumpsters, down, down the street, Sophia walked on, looking around herself for signs of the green-haired fairy. Should she call his name? No, that would be bad. There were a lot of grown-ups around and he said not to tell anybody about him or he would disappear. So how was she supposed to look for him?

She began to cry again, but still she pressed on, determined to find her little friend and take him back home with her.

* * *

"Well, it's been narrowed down to within these ten city blocks now." Timmy sighed tiredly, sitting on a crate in one alley with the Thunder Scepter resting against the wall of a building. He studied the virtual map floating over his arm and looked up at Wanda as she fluttered by him, hidden by the darkness of the gap between stores. "If we keep destroying nullifiers, not only will we free up this section of Dimmsdale for wishes, but we'll be able to pinpoint Cosmo's location." he added and shrugged, "It's just exhausting doing all that in this weather."

"You could have wished for an umbrella." Wanda told him with a wan smile, "Or a jacket. Come on, wish for something to keep you dry. I don't want you to catch a cold." The brunet grinned and rubbed his head, failing to dry his hair that way.

"Okay, okay. I wish..." he began and jumped as a cloud of pale blue smoke blasted into the alley with him and the fairy. It faded to reveal an old face that both of them remembered none too fondly. "Anti-Cosmo? What are **you** doing here?" Timmy hissed, jumping to his feet and grabbing the staff. The blue-toned fairy held up a hand to shield his eyes as he gazed up at the sky.

"Beautiful weather, but I'd rather not get soaked to the skin." he remarked and conjured up an umbrella to cover himself, "Hello there, dear Timothy, Wanda." He paused and eyed the brunet carefully, adjusting his monocle. "I'd hate to be a busybody, but where on earth is Cosmo? He was supposed to be banished here with you, wasn't he?"

"How would you know about that and why would you care?" Wanda snapped, exchanging wands and holding the Heartache Hammer threateningly. Anti-Cosmo shrugged, lounging in the air as though unconcerned that a deadly weapon was being wielded with the intention of harming him.

"It was such big news, every magical creature in existence knew of it. One of the biggest scandals ever, considering those involved and the value of their lives." he returned conversationally, poofing up a cup of tea for himself, "As for **why** I care, well, Wanda, you of all people should know that reason quite well."

"What is he talking about?" Timmy questioned his fairy godmother in confusion. She shook her head at him and glared at her husband's other half.

"Keep that between us, then. Why are you here?" she growled and Anti-Cosmo sipped carefully at his tea.

"To make Remy miserable, which the three of you seem to be doing a fine job at, by the way. My compliments." he replied casually and looked down at the brunet, "I was summoned by him just a little while ago. The little blighter had hoped to use my black magic to have his way with you, dear Timothy." Timmy stepped back warily, clutching the Scepter tightly. "Oh, come now! I'm not here for you, you dolt!" the anti-fairy griped, "I told him I wasn't going to harm this little one, Wanda, and that the same went for all the other anti-fairies. He did, however, spill salt, and I can't resist spreading a little misery for **that** treat." Wanda blinked in surprise while Timmy only tilted his head and looked completely lost. The blue-toned fairy sighed in exasperation, shaking his head. "I see the resemblance, and it's appalling." Anti-Cosmo grumbled and twirled his wand at them in annoyance, "I'm here to make Remy Buxaplenty miserable and what better way to give him some bad luck than to help the one he hates the most get an advantage over him? Now here's the deal. Do you want my help now, or later?"

"Do I get time to think it over?" Timmy asked suspiciously and the blue-toned fairy sighed a second time and flicked his wand at the boy. A shimmering black star on an ebony cord appeared before him, dropping into the brunet's hands.

"That's a way of contacting me in the event that you **do** need a little black magic on your side." Anti-Cosmo told him coolly, "Mind you, it's only good once, so think about it carefully. Although, with your genetics, that in itself will be a miracle..."

"Will you stop bashing my parents? I feel guilty enough for not having visited them at all since I got here; I don't need you harping on about their low IQs!" Timmy snapped at him and the anti-fairy smiled.

"Oh? Fine. As I was saying, that charm will summon me, but only if you destroy it. I do so love a little destruction." he murmured and took another sip before going on, "You see, dearest Timothy, that charm contains a small mirror, which is a trigger for bad luck or, in this case, the fastest way to get me to your side. Break it, and I'll be there to give you some assistance. But only once!" He fluttered close to the young teen before Timmy had the chance to jump back again. "I can't exactly wreck my reputation by doing this too often." he added in a mock conspirator-like whisper, "So do us all a favor and find that green-haired idiot doppleganger of mine before he destroys something I actually **want** to have around." With that, he tipped his hat, flashed them both a smile, displaying oddly sharp teeth that reminded Timmy of piranhas, and vanished in a burst of pale blue smoke.

"That was strange. Why would Anti-Cosmo tell the other anti-fairies not to use magic on me? I thought they'd do the opposite of what fairies do." Timmy remarked, puzzled. He turned the star over in his hand, a faint feeling of déjà vu skimming through his mind before fading away. Wanda shrugged, rolling her eyes.

"Probably because they believe you being trapped like you are now is more than enough misery." she replied and looked down at him, "Are you really going to keep that thing? What if it's a trick?"

"Then we'll beat the crud out of him when he shows up again. Meantime, what's the harm?" the brunet answered and looped the cord over his neck, tucking the star under his shirt, "Let's get back to searching for more anti-magic units. If we keep up the pace, we'll find Cosmo in no time."

* * *

Voices muttering, lots of them, and something stung him just above his eye. He whimpered once, then slowly opened his eyes to see what was going on now. Well, he'd been right, there were a lot of people. He managed a smile; Wanda was going to be really surprised that he was actually right about something.

"Well, he's grinning, so I guess that means he's gonna be okay." the waiter remarked, looking down at Cosmo with a paper napkin wrapped around an ice cube, "Hey, buddy, you took a nasty tumble when the mob came in... and the lunchtime crowd already muscled their way in here a couple of hours ago."

"I still think you should call an ambulance." one woman pointed out from her booth, a slice of pizza in one hand, "Nasty tumble, my horse's patoot; he slipped on the tile and now he's bleeding from the head. If you don't call an ambulance for him, I'm gonna sue this place for him." Cosmo sat up, rubbing his head as he looked around in confusion. Okay, now he was lost. Where was he this time?

"Ah, I'm looking for Sophia." he began carefully and held out his hand, "She's this big and really cute and wears pink."

"Down the street, big red brick apartment building, fourth floor, second door on your right." the waiter rattled off, "I deliver pizzas to them every Thursday, charitable donation made by Doug Dimmadome." The green-haired fairy tried to stand, saw the world tilt and paused, confused.

"Is the world supposed to be crooked?" he asked the waiter and the other man put his hand on his shoulder, weighing him down enough to get him back on the floor.

"Um, no, sir, it isn't. Maybe you shouldn't move around so soon after waking up. Would you like some water? Maybe a slice of pizza?" he offered.

"The man's busted his head on your floor and you're selling him pizza? He needs a lawyer now." the woman jeered and the waiter shot her an annoyed look.

"It'll be on the house for him. Is that fine?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"That depends. Is it fresh?"

"I'll get you a fresh slice of pizza and a first aid kit, sir. Please don't move from this spot." the waiter told Cosmo and hurried off for the kitchen. The green-haired fairy looked worried.

"What if I have to scratch my nose?" he called back and looked around at the laughter from the people in the restaurant, "Did I say something funny?" He sighed and propped his cheek on one fist, looking out the glass doors at the rainy world beyond them. This wasn't much fun. Stuck somewhere, lost, still getting hurt, magic-less and not a friend in sight; he silently wished somebody would just appear and help him out. A friendly face, heck he'd even like an unfriendly face, provided it was someone he knew and could possibly lend him a hand.

At least he was getting a free pizza out of this.

"Wanda, Timmy, where are you? Get me out of this!" he muttered under his breath, "And soon! I want to find Sophia!" The waiter returned and knelt by him again, opening up the first aid kit and picking out a bottle.

"This is gonna sting a bit, sir, but it'll help." the waiter remarked, dabbing out some of the liquid. He touched it to the cut over Cosmo's eye and the fairy yelped in pain, cringing back. "Sorry, sir, but I did warn you." the waiter went on and tried to dab again. Cosmo pulled back, eyeing the iodine applicator with some hostility. "Sir, please hold still." the waiter told him, "This is going to help with killing any infection you might pick up."

"I like my affections. Leave them right where they are." Cosmo returned irritably.

"_Infection_, sir, not affection. Never mind. At least let me put the bandage on it." the waiter sighed and pulled one from the box, peeling it open and affixing it to the fairy's head. "There we are. Think you're able to stand now?" He helped Cosmo to his feet, then led him to a booth by the window, "Now you stay put here until you're sure that you can handle walking about on your own. Here's your complimentary pizza and a glass of water. If there's anything else you'd like, please feel free to ask."

"I'd like to reconsider my situation in life and see if I can fix it so that none of the bad stuff happened." Cosmo muttered and when the waiter asked him to repeat that, he only smiled brightly and shook his head, "Ah, nothin'!" The waiter shrugged and headed off on his normal rounds, leaving Cosmo to pick at the pepperoni on his free slice and wonder if being inside a building kept the anti-magic devices from hounding him.

* * *

"Ugh, this is pointless." Apollo sighed in exasperation, watching Trixie cautiously tip over a crate with the toe of her boot, "With all the havoc Cosmo's prone to creating, you'd think we would have found him by now." He fluttered around in the alley, clutching a small umbrella of his own. "Where'd Chester go?" he added with a tilt of his head.

"Probably up ahead to find Timothy before another of those capture units locks onto him. He'll be fine, don't worry. I bet he doesn't even care what happened back there with your sword and all." Trixie replied and crinkled her nose at the weather, "I wish it would stop raining." Apollo blinked at her, looked skyward, then poofed in Da Rules for study.

"That's Mother Nature's jurisdiction. You want me to try calling her and see if I can swing that wish?" he returned and when the girl nodded eagerly, he poofed in a cell phone, grabbed it and dialed a number. He held it up and waited a few minutes before speaking again. "Hello, Mother Nature! How are you?" Apollo greeted brightly, "Oh, I'm peachy, too, thanks! I'll never figure out how you manage to keep so many fairy names straight; I get lost after five or six." He nodded and smiled. "Yes, well, I'm calling on behalf of my fairy godchild... yes, Mother, I have one." he laughed, "She's my first, seeing as how I just got licensed as a fairy godfather a few years ago. Ah, name? Trixie Tang, of Dimmsdale, Cali... yeah, I'm a Dimmsdale Fairy." He looked down at the puzzled Asian and shrugged helplessly, "Um, no, Ma'am, I'm doing okay..." He winced suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Trixie asked immediately.

"She heard about my little time in Remy's place. Mother Nature's got eyes and ears everywhere." he sighed and went back to the phone, "No, no, I'm perfectly fine. I was rescued by... well... you know... Can you, like, not do that on the phone?" He rolled his eyes. "Right, well, Trixie just made a wish about the rain here in Dimmsdale and I'm wondering if you'll let me patch that through and stop it for now. Why?" He looked down at his godchild once more. "She wants to know why you want the rain to stop." he reported and Trixie held out her hand.

"Let me talk to her myself! We don't have time to chit-chat!" she declared and received the phone. Placing it to her ear, she called out. "Hello? Ms. Mother Nature? It's me, Trixie Tang!"

_"I know who you are, dearie. I know just about everything that goes on in the natural world. I've got a very nice little friend in a very old tree who relays me handy bits of info. About your wish... why would you want to stop the rain? It's autumn, and the conditions are ripe for a few showers before the winter chill sets in."_ a cheerful voice answered her, chirping on like a friendly grandmother.

"We're looking for Timothy's fairy godfather, Cosmo, and the rain is kinda making things hard for us. Between puddles and slick sidewalks, it's hard to get rid of the anti-magic devices that keep us from pinpointing his wand." Trixie explained and the chirping returned.

_"Excuse me, dearie, but did you say Cosmo is missing in Dimmsdale? Dear little Timmy's Cosmo?"_

"Um, Ma'am, I'm not sure if you know the rules of Dimmsdale, but only Timmy Turner can be referred to as 'Timmy'." Trixie pointed out cautiously, "This is Timothy Neogene we're talking about."

_"Oh? Oh! Dearie me, so sorry! Um, yes, clearly... I... made an... error... Ah, let me think... Cosmo, is it? Well! If that's the case, then I'll pull my rain-clouds back for now. Find him quickly. Ta-ta!"_ Mother Nature returned and hung up. Overhead, the clouds began breaking up, rays of sunshine piercing through to touch on the soaked city. Trixie and Apollo looked around and grinned at each other.

"That should make things easier for us." the fairy remarked, "So, let's go find Timothy and see if he can make another scan for Cosmo's wand." He poofed back into pendant form around Trixie's neck and the girl hurried off to track down the young immortal.

* * *

Sophia blinked as the rain suddenly stopped and let sunshine through onto Dimmsdale. She looked up at the departing clouds, curious. For as far back as she could remember, rain didn't stop just like that. Did somebody with a fairy make a wish to make it go away? Maybe that one song really worked?

She sighed tiredly and continued trudging on. Still cold, still hungry, tired and sore and very, very lost; Sophia wanted to cry again, but didn't have the strength for it. Passing by a few more buildings, she watched more of the big kids running around. Why were they doing that? Was it some game they were playing? It kinda looked fun, but she was too sleepy to play it with them.

"Sophia?" she heard her name being called and looked back, puzzled at first, then brightening as she saw Cosmo poke his head out of one of the buildings, a small band-aid stuck to his head. She turned and held out her hands, laughing cheerfully as her transformed friend jogged out to meet her, picking her up and cuddling her. "Sophia, Sophia, Sophia! I found you! So, what'd I win?" Cosmo cooed and she held up his wand, "I already have one of those. Is there another prize?"

"Nah, nah! Yours! I found it for you!" Sophia laughed, rubbing her forehead against the collar of his shirt. The fairy walked along back the way she had come, whistling cheerfully.

"Okay, let's find a place for the two of us to hide so I can use it." he remarked and peered into an alley, "That looks like a good spot." Slipping in, Cosmo set the little girl onto a crate and held out his hands, "Okay! Wand time!" Sophia proudly placed the star-topped item in his open palms and watched him hold it up, closing his eyes.

A burst of magic erupted from the star, shining down on her friend. Sophia lifted her hands up, trying to capture the brilliant light as the fairy shrank back to his normal size, crown and wings returning as he did. Cosmo shook his head and rubbed above his eye, noting the disappearance of the bandage from the pizzeria. Cheered by that, he looked over his shoulder and fluttered both wings, the right one perfectly whole and healthy again.

"Yay! Now I can fly again!" he whooped and took to the air, floating before Sophia as the gossamer wings beat rapidly, "Thanks for helping me, Sophia!" Cosmo waved the wand and pointed it at her, poofing her dry and clothing her in a cute pink dress and shoes, hair tied neatly up in her usual pigtails with soft pink ribbons.

"Pretty!" the toddler laughed and cheered as he produced a plate of bite-sized sandwiches along with a cup of milk with another wave of the wand. She ate happily, silent as Cosmo fluttered at the entrance of the alley and stood guard, watching the streets.

"I need to get you home." he murmured and looked back at Sophia, "Finished your snack?" She nodded, licking her fingers as the dishes vanished magically. He smiled at her and fluttered over, taking her hand in his. "We'll fly together, okay? Sound fun?" he chirped and took her excited laughter as a yes. Another wave of his wand to make her magically lighter and he flew up above the buildings with Sophia hanging on. Maybe things would turn out all right.

She heard a buzzing sound and looked around, confused. What was making that sound? She felt Cosmo's hand suddenly tighten around hers and she looked at him, worried. Was the sound bad? He stopped flying and floated there, eyes darting about as he tilted his head, listening. He looked scared to Sophia, so she supposed the sound was really bad.

"Not now." he whispered softly, "Please not now. Not again." The fairy looked at her and forced a smile, but she could see that fear in his green eyes. "Okay, Sophia, listen. You remember that big thing that was with me when you found me?" he asked and she nodded slowly, "Well, there's more of 'em and they all like to try to chase me and catch me. I'm going to be flying pretty fast now, and probably doing some other stuff, too, so hang on really tight and don't let go or open your eyes. It might get pretty scary, but if we're lucky, we'll be okay."

"I wanna go home." Sophia whimpered, hugging him and shutting her eyes tightly, "I wanna go home, Cosmo!"

"Hang on! Here I go!" the fairy yelled and the wind suddenly seemed to rush by Sophia faster than she ever thought it could go, faster than the wind when Daddy drove his car. She held on and listened to the sounds of buzzing and zapping and things going 'Boom! Boom! Boom!' behind and around them. "Wow! The sky's raining magic again!" Cosmo's voice suddenly exclaimed cheerfully, then yelped as he dove down suddenly and Sophia yelled out in fear, "Sorry, sorry! Hang on!"

Then, suddenly, everything stopped. Sophia's stomach flip-flopped inside her and she swallowed down the urge to throw up. Carefully opening her eyes, she looked around herself. She was still high up in the air, so that was good, right? She looked at her fairy friend and took on a worried look. Cosmo really didn't look all that good now. Was he sick? He just floated there, shaking and teeth grinding together and eyes so big and round Sophia thought they took over his whole face.

"Bad thing happened?" she asked and the fairy relaxed at her words, his hair flopping down to hide his face.

"No. Not yet. Let me put you down where it will be safe." he murmured, and he sounded strange to Sophia. Like something had changed. He floated down to the sidewalk and set her down carefully.

"Cosmo? Sound funny." she told him, reaching out to rub his hair. He shook his head, still hiding his face by keeping his head bent.

"No. I'm okay. Be right back." he replied and shot back into the air. Sophia followed him up, watching in surprise as he flew into a big cloud of silver color. She tilted her head; the cloud seemed to be moving around a lot. Were they silvery bugs or something? They just kept swirling and twisting and making weird shapes...

And then they blew up.

Sophia covered her head and screamed as the cloud of silver things just exploded and big shiny green wings cut through the black smoke as the bugs fell, wings that kept spinning and spinning in a circle as they smashed up more of the flying silver things. She stepped back, scared, then heard the sound of someone running up behind her. Turning around, she looked up in shock at a big kid staring up at the cloud and the spinning green wings.

"Wanda! That's him, isn't it? That's Cosmo!" he exclaimed, "What is he doing?"

"Another of those tricks the Fairy Academy would love to get their hands on." a voice from something the kid wore said, "He replaces his wings with those bladed ones and just rolls in place in the air. There's little anyone can do to break through **that**, especially since he conjures and holds a pair of wands out at his sides to keep himself covered." Sophia studied the big kid and blinked at the little face on the square thing he wore on a strange necklace. It was all pink, which was cute, but why did it have a face?

"When'd he learn something like **that**? I don't think fairy godparents are supposed to know stuff like that!" the older boy cried and the pink thing poofed into another fairy floating beside him, looking up at the cloud with a sad face. Sophia blinked at her curled up pink hair and yellow shirt and black pants; the kid called her Wanda, right? Was this the Mommy Fairy Cosmo was married to? That would mean that the big kid was Timothy.

"I'm not sure myself, Sport; Cosmo's got a lot of stuff in his bag of tricks I don't know about, but I saw this one pop up sometime before the burning of Rome." the pink fairy returned and looked at him, "He **did** say once that he had a whole life neither of us know about, remember? Let me try to get through to him." He nodded and she flew up after the big spinning wings. Sophia tugged on the boy's pants and he looked down at her for the first time, surprised.

"What the-? Hey, you're not supposed to be out here all by yourself. Where's your mom and dad?" he asked, kneeling by her. Sophia looked up at the cloud, then at him. "You saw all that, huh? Sorry about that. I'll make sure your memory is..." the boy began to say and she shook her head.

"Is Cosmo gonna be okay? He's my friend; I found him. I want to know if he's gonna be okay so we can go home." she told him and the dark-haired boy blinked at her in surprise.

"You... found him?" he echoed and rubbed his head, "Um, thanks. See, Cosmo's my friend, too, and I've been looking all night and all day for him. He has to come home with me." Sophia stamped her foot stubbornly.

"But I found him! I took care of him! He was all hurting and stuff from the big round thing and his wing was all tore up so I took him home and made him a bed and gave him band-aids and he promised he would stay with me!" she shouted and swished her dress around as she twisted in place, holding her fists up to her eyes as she cried. "Mine! Mine! Mine!" she wailed, "He's my friend! He said he would stay with me!"

.

Overhead, the spinning finally ended after Wanda yelled at the blur of green through a giant bullhorn. Cosmo fell out of the mid-air tumble and held both hands to his head, the giant green wings collapsing out of existence as his normal fairy ones took their place.

"D-d-d-dizzy!" he complained, "Too much spinning!" He blinked as Wanda flew before him and he brightened, clapping his hands. "Wow! So many Wandas! Does this mean I'm married to all of you?" The pink-haired fairy smiled and shook her head, grabbing onto his hand.

"Come on, you idiot, you had us all worried sick over you! Let's get back to Timmy!" she told him and he tilted his head, flying alongside her.

"What about Sophia?" he asked and she looked at him, puzzled. He pointed down at the sobbing girl standing before the brunet. "That's Sophia. She found me and took care of me for a while." he added.

"Hey, listen! Stop crying, okay? Cosmo has to come with me; Da Rules say so." Timmy tried to explain helplessly to the crying girl, then looked up at the fairies floating by him, "Cosmo, Wanda, help! She won't stop crying!" Sophia turned to the green-haired fairy and held up her hands, tears running down her face.

"No, no go away! Stay with me, please! Be my friend! You promised! You promised!" she begged and Cosmo looked completely lost, both wife and godchild looking to him for an explanation.

"Sophia, these are my friends. They found me, now I have to go home with them. That's the promise." he tried to soothe the girl but she only cried louder, stamping her feet on the sidewalk.

"Doesn't she have a fairy of her own?" Timmy asked him and Cosmo shook his head.

"Her babysitter is mean enough to make her need one, but Jeanie knows about fairies and looks through her room every day to see if she got one." he told the boy, "Remy pays her to go make little kids miserable, then steal the fairy godparents they get when they earn them."

"She's worse than Vicky!" the brunet cried as Wanda gasped in shock, "I can't believe how far Remy would go just to get his hands on more fairy godparents! He's making kids miserable for the sole reason of forcing them to gain fairies, then sending this Jeanie girl to snatch them up?" Cosmo nodded. "Man, if I wasn't already mad enough about him putting up these Spires to block fairy magic, now I'm **really** ticked off at him!" Timmy growled.

"But what are we going to do about Sophia? She wants a fairy of her own, but she can't have Cosmo." Wanda remarked worriedly. The brunet touched fingers to the green communicators on his ears, reported where he was, then looked up at her in concern.

"I know. But if there's a babysitter doing this to kids and has knowledge of fairy godparents, there's little we can do. Not without endangering Cosmo, whatever fairy could come to Sophia, and Sophia herself." he added in and rubbed his head, "What a pickle." Cosmo waved his arm excitedly.

"Ooh! I love pickles!" he cheered and looked up at his godchild, "How about I stay with Sophia for a little while? You can ask Romi or Apollo to go check Fairy World and see if a fairy godparent is gonna come for her. Then, when they come, I'll go back to you!" Timmy looked startled.

"But the anti-magic units are going to be gunning for you every chance they get!" he exclaimed, "They've been chasing me like crazy because Wanda's got stuff on her with your DNA on it! If you stay here with Sophia, she'll be put in danger from the traps! And this area is still under the command of a Dark Spire; the ability to grant wishes here is super-limited!"

"Please? Trust me?" Cosmo pleaded, eyes growing wide and teary as he clasped his hands together. Timmy sighed and pulled his hands over his face, the remaining members of Team Turner finally joining them and huffing tiredly. He looked back at them, lost.

"Guys, can you help me with this?" he begged and held his hands out to the little girl standing on the sidewalk, "She wants to take Cosmo as her fairy godparent!" Chester blinked at her, then paled.

"Oh, snap!" he stammered and backed away, then turned around and called the rest of the team into a huddle. Timmy blinked at them, baffled. "Guys," the blonde told the group, "we can't let him know about Sophia."

"Why not? Doesn't he have a right to know about her? He's one of us." Tootie put in, confused. Chester shook his head.

"Haven't you caught on yet, Toots?" he asked softly, glancing back over his shoulder at the brunet, "He's got a weird vibe to him." The young Goth tilted her head, waiting for more information as the other teens looked at each other in silent agreement.

"There's something to him that feels like when Timmy was around." A.J. added strangely, "I can't explain it logically, but there's something inside us that says not to let him know who Sophia is, or it might hurt him." Tootie managed a forced smile, a thin sheen of sweat breaking out on her face.

"Hurt him? Wh-why would telling him hurt him? It's not like you're gonna hurt Timmy Turner any. This is _Timothy!_" she urged. The Others shook their heads and even Trixie looked a bit reluctant.

"He **can't** know. It's just a feeling, but telling Timothy about Sophia would be kind of like telling Timmy. And Timmy **would** be hurt." Chester told the youngest member of the team, "Don't tell him anything. He's a New Yorker; he doesn't have the ties to Dimmsdale we all have, so he doesn't need to know. Just leave it to me to work this out, 'kay?" Tootie spread her hands in defeat.

"All right, if that's what you guys feel. But I still think we should just let him know. It could spare us another explosion of mana later." she sighed in resignation. They broke the huddle and looked sheepishly at the brunet.

"Uh, that's no problem! Cosmo, you can hang with Sophia for a while. We'll take her home, Timothy, so she'll be safe. Tricks and Toots are gonna send their fairies up to Fairy World for some snooping around on getting her a fairy of her own. Then Cosmo can just head back to you when a stand-in shows up!" Chester remarked brightly. Cosmo laughed, waving his arms.

"Ha! Great idea! Why didn't I think of that?" he exclaimed and fluttered down to take Sophia's hand, "I'm going with you for a little while longer, okay? When another fairy comes to be your friend, I'll go back to Wanda and Timothy." Sophia nodded, accepting that deal as she stuck her thumb in her mouth.

"But... Cosmo..." Timmy mumbled, torn at the thought of his fairy godfather leaving with the toddler. Wanda looked ready to cry as Cosmo flew back up and gave her a hug and kiss, then floated before the brunet. He reached out and tapped the end of his nose, smiling tearfully.

_"Faren wel, Sunu."_ he murmured, then began to float towards Sophia. Timmy watched him in disbelief, shut his eyes, then called out brokenly.

"Wait!" he cried, "Wait, please..." Cosmo paused, looking back at him in confusion. "Wanda, go with him." the brunet added softly, startling both fairies.

"What?" Wanda asked in shock. Timmy gestured helplessly.

"You know how Cosmo is on his own. He can't keep a straight head on without you, and if you're with him, then things won't get too far out of hand." he explained and managed a small smile, "You guys work best together, so the two of you should stay together. Even if it's not with me."

"You're giving up **both** of your fairies?" Trixie whispered in shock. The brunet nodded. "But...!"

"I came here to make sure that kids with fairies can keep them, can be happy and have their wishes and dreams be granted, and that kids without fairies have a chance to receive one if they really need a friend." he remarked in a stronger tone, "If I deny someone a fairy godparent, even if the one they want is bound to me, then that's like being a hypocrite, right?" He looked over at his fairy godmother and grinned. "I'll be okay. It's only for a little while, right? Apollo and Romi will straighten the whole thing out, Sophia will get her own fairy godparent to be friends with, then you'll just come back." he added and waved towards the little girl, "I wish you and Cosmo would go with Sophia until she gets her own fairy godparent." Wanda sniffled, then reached out to frame his face in her tiny hands.

"Such a sweetheart." she murmured, "Just too good for this world." She pressed a small kiss to his forehead, fluttered back, then flew towards Sophia, vanishing into the guise of a bracelet on her arm with a soft sob. Cosmo tilted his head, looked up at the brunet with a strangely uncertain expression, then flew into a disguise of his own on the girl, a green beaded necklace.

The girl examined both new trinkets, then headed for the group of teens. Tootie held out her hand to her, then led her down the sidewalk with the other S-List kids following her. Timmy moved to do the same, but Chester held back, holding out a hand to stop him.

"Sorry, man, but this is something for Dimmsdale kids only." the blonde told him, startling the brunet.

"But, I'm...!" Timmy began and bit his lip down on the rest of his words. Chester shook his head.

"Look, you're still kinda new to our city. That girl... well, we do what we can to keep her happy." he remarked and shrugged slightly, "And I guess part of that means having to keep you from her until Cosmo and Wanda come back on their own." He looked back at the departing teens, then sighed. "We'll be back in a bit. Meantime, wait around here for the robo-dude or the ghost guy. There's not much we can do until we all get some more decent shut-eye and get to planning about the next Spire." the blonde added and waved halfheartedly at Timmy before running off to rejoin the Others.

The brunet stood alone on the sidewalk a few moments later, deciding then that it would be all right to cry as the loneliness of being outcast once more sank into him, the rain returning to weep with him.


	4. Chapter 4

4

Ten minutes passed and Timmy sighed morosely as he sat on a crate in an alley. For as dank and dirty as those places were, they were his favorite places to hide out in. They were dark and secluded, perfect for talking and working with his fairy godparents, and save for the occasional embarrassing moment where Timmy ran into a pair of lovebirds and raced out of the alley, red-faced and flapping his arms in a panic, alleys were a comfortably safe area to be.

He just hoped there wasn't anything else to worry about in there.

"Geez, only ten or twelve minutes and already I'm back to being miserable without them." Timmy sighed and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. He tried thinking of a good side to losing them both for what seemed like the third or fourth time in his life. "Without them around, there won't be any of Cosmo's DNA triggering anti-magic units by accident." he murmured and winced, "Oh, crud. That house is gonna be killer just being there by myself."

_"Hey? Hello? Anyone coming in? I'm totally being ignored on all frequencies."_ Danny's voice muttered and Timmy tapped the Fenton Phones.

"Hey, Cousin. Private channel?" he asked.

_"Like I'm dumb enough to let you call me that on a public channel. What's up, Timmy? The tower foundation is rubble now, so no new Spire anytime soon."_

"I think I made a stupid move, but I'm not sure." Timmy sighed.

_"Oh, not good. I don't like the sound of that. Wanna spill?"_

The brunet explained his situation, cracking at points and marring a few of his words with tears as the phantom listened silently. By the time all was said and done, the young immortal was curled up and hugging his knees on the crate, whimpering softly. His cousin tried to comfort him, murmuring words that ran along the lines of another Hero speech. What Timmy had done was a form of sacrifice, something that was a defining trait of a Hero; to give up the fairies like that was akin to giving up a large amount of his power, power that he used -in all honesty- for his own personal reasons rather than the benefit of others. To sacrifice personal pleasures so that another could be happy, it was Heroic.

"So then why does it hurt?" Timmy cried, face buried in his arms, "They're all I had left! I don't have anyone else; I can't live in that stupid mansion all by myself!" He lifted his head, rubbing at his eyes. "And don't offer to stay with me 'cause you can't and we both know it! You have to deal with Amity Park and your family, and I have to be here **alone**!"

_"Tim-Tim, I have the robot doubles Caleb built covering for me. I could stay as long as you need me around..."_ Danny went on in concern.

"Can they recreate the Ghostly Wail? Phantom Ray? Phantom Lance?" Timmy demanded, "Can they mimic the ectomana you have that gives you the edge over all those ghosts you fight? What about your Ice Mode? Can they convert to that in a flash?"

_"Ugh...! You can be so stubborn!"_ the halfa complained, _"Caleb's buzzing me already, so I'd better land and see what's up with him. You can either come join us so we can figure out what to do about the next Spire, or stay where you are until you've gotten a hold of yourself again. I'll cover for you where I can, okay?"_

"Thanks." Timmy sighed and clicked off the Phones, resting his cheek on one fist as he studied the wall before him. He was going to be on his own. Would this make his solo missions to destroy the anti-magic units harder? Probably, as he relied on the fairies for companionship and a sense of security when tense moments arose.

Rubbing the back of his neck with a second sigh, he wondered over what his next plan of action should be, then paused in surprise as he felt the cord still hanging there. Cord? The brunet's eyes widened as he remembered the necklace Anti-Cosmo had given him. Pulling it out and looping it over his head to hold the black star in his hand, he studied it carefully and with some thought. To use it now would summon the anti-fairy immediately, but what then? Was he so desperate to avoid being alone that he would turn to a former enemy for help?

"What's the worst that can happen?" Timmy sighed and shut his eyes, hurling the star against the wall and shattering it to pieces, breaking the small mirror within it. A burst of pale blue smoke erupted over the fallen remnants of the charm and Timmy got to his feet, grabbing the Thunder Scepter from where it leaned against the building beside him.

"Finally thought of something, dearest Timothy?" Anti-Cosmo remarked coolly, a grin spread over his face that revealed the strange sharp teeth sparkling in the darkness of the alley, "So what misery would you like me to bestow upon some wretched soul? Do tell, dear boy; I'm not much for guessing games."

It seemed like a bad idea now, but then Timmy was prone to thinking that of things after they were out of his hands and his control. He rubbed his head and looked a bit embarrassed, cheeks burning at the thought of what he was about to say. Anti-Cosmo floated there before him, tapping his wand against his arm as he waited, eyebrow lifted expectantly.

"Um, well. Actually..." Timmy began and sighed, "Can you hear me out on this? It sounds kinda stupid to me, but it's also kinda serious." He began another telling of what had happened to him, Cosmo and Wanda, watching with some curiosity as Anti-Cosmo took on a startled expression, then looked seriously thoughtful as he listened to the story. He tilted his head, but said nothing as Timmy finished and rubbed his head again. "...So, I guess what I'm trying to say is," the brunet went on, "would it be all right if the favor I'm calling in is for you to just kinda keep me company until Cosmo and Wanda come back?"

The anti-fairy looked at him askance, an uncertain expression on his face. Timmy expected that reaction at the least. It was, after all, kind of a crazy request to make of him. This was Anti-Cosmo; Cosmo's mirror image and opposite. Anti-fairies caused bad luck and misery for others, and delighted at the idea of causing someone else pain. And Anti-Cosmo was doubly dangerous in that respect; for as much as Cosmo loved having fun and bringing others into that fun, Anti-Cosmo loved bringing pain, fear and misery to anyone and everyone he came across; for as much as Cosmo just couldn't get a clue at times, Anti-Cosmo crafted brilliant plots and schemes that elevated him to leadership over the anti-fairies of Anti-Fairy World, giving him manipulative power that more than matched the influence of the ruling fairies of Fairy World.

"Let me ask you this, dear boy. What on earth possessed you to just **give** this little rugrat Cosmo and Wanda?" Anti-Cosmo finally asked, "They are bound to you and you alone, and granting wishes for anyone other than you is a serious breach of their sentence."

"It's a Hero thing." Timmy sighed, "I think. And I wished them to her until she got her own fairy. So, it shouldn't be breaking any rules, right?"

"And you want **me** to accompany you until they return?" the anti-fairy went on carefully, "Despite knowing who and what I am, you want **me** around for some indeterminable amount of time?" Timmy nodded slowly and he sighed, a strangely helpless sound mingling with it. "Timothy, this was an absolute waste of that charm I gave you..."

"Please? If not for me, then for Wanda? You kinda know something she knows, right?" the brunet interrupted and Anti-Cosmo flicked his wand up at him, eyes narrowing in warning.

"I have no love for that woman, if that's what you were attempting to imply." he growled, "I am a married man, and Anti-Wanda is as dear to me as your Wanda is to that idiot doppelganger of mine. Contrary to what people around us think, your fairies are deeply loyal to each other and I am the same with Anti-Wanda. The knowledge we share is privy to us simply for the fact that she and Cosmo knew of it for quite some time now and I learned of it only from watching them and you."

"And that is?"

"Something you are not to know of. You are human; you don't **need** to know of it, and that is that. Leave it as it lies and no harm will be done." Anti-Cosmo berated and conjured up a cup of tea, sipping at it as he watched the brunet look baffled and embarrassed at once, "Appalling." Timmy squirmed and huffed in annoyance, then touched fingers to the Fenton Phones as they beeped softly.

"Yeah? What's up?" he demanded.

_"Oh, whoa! Caught you in a bad mood, Dude? Hey, listen, Sophia's safe and sound at home and the fairies wanted me to let you know that everything's gonna be okay. The gang and I are gonna head home for some shut-eye, so you should probably do the same."_ Chester's voice called out in mild surprise, _"We'll catch you in school tomorrow and start making some plans about the next Spire."_

"Fine. See ya." the brunet sighed and pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead, "Ugh. Spire planning is gonna have to wait a while; I need to deal with this new babysitter working for Remy. How the heck am I gonna fight someone who's backed by that brat, has no magic, and knows about fairies and their abilities?" He looked up at the anti-fairy, then sighed and shook his head. "Okay, you know what? Forget it. It was a stupid idea when I thought of it and it still is. I wasted the charm for nothing." he muttered with a wave of his hand.

"I never gave you an answer." Anti-Cosmo returned sharply, "Don't think you can dismiss me as easily as those little airheads that usually tag along with you without hearing my words." He finished the cup of tea, then looked into the cup with a solemn expression. "I've decided that I shall stay with you. For the time being, mind you." he finally remarked and looked up sternly at the teen's cheerful whoop, "Settle down, for heaven's sake! You'll make me regret the decision."

"Man, this is gonna be a relief! I can't stand being in that mansion even _with_ Cosmo and Wanda!" Timmy declared with a smile, "So having someone along to talk to will be great! Just don't use too many big words; I'm not all that crazy about looking things up, y'know." Anti-Cosmo rolled his eyes, sighed, and shook his head in exasperation.

"I'll see if I have an English-to-Idiot dictionary somewhere." he remarked and looked down at him, "Now, a few ground rules are necessary, if only to keep us both somewhat sane and in one piece. What do you know of anti-fairies?"

"You cause bad luck, duh. You really like Friday the Thirteenth. You're the opposites of fairies and you don't usually come to Earth 'cause you're all locked up in Anti-Fairy World. You enjoy making people miserable... that's about it." Timmy counted off on his fingers, "Which reminds me. Yeah, you're gonna have to knock that off if you're gonna be with me."

"No, I'm not." Anti-Cosmo returned and held up the wand warningly as the brunet opened his mouth to protest, "You only have partial information, Timothy; there's more to me and my kind than you think." He twirled his wand and pointed it out of the alley at the people walking about on the sidewalks, resuming their daily routine as the 'alien' scare finally ebbed away. "Fairies and anti-fairies are connected together in a strange way. We balance each other, so to speak." he began, "Just as fairy godparents grant wishes to prevent magical backup and remain healthy, so do anti-fairies cause bad luck to keep ourselves in good condition. It's more than just our favorite thing to do; it's how we survive, how we live, how we continue to function."

Timmy tilted his head thoughtfully, turning it over in his mind. That was a bit of a surprise to him. He knew about fairy godparents and how they had to grant wishes on a somewhat regular basis. To know that anti-fairies had a similar problem and a similar way of dealing with it was kind of shocking. If a fairy went too long without granting wishes, they built up too much magic in their bodies and exploded into piles of dust or string, rendering them incapable of doing anything until someone came and returned them to normalcy. Anti-fairies had the ability to share that fate if they didn't cause bad luck for someone now and then?

"What happens if you do too much?" he asked the blue-toned fairy.

"Same thing that happens if you wish a lot. Pretty much nothing." Anti-Cosmo returned.

"Then why do you keep trying to take over the world and make it Friday the Thirteenth forever and stuff? Bad luck over and over isn't really doing you any good, is it? Not if lots of wishes don't do anything good for fairies." Timmy questioned in confusion, "If it has no benefits, why keep trying to pull it off?"

"Personal pleasure." Anti-Cosmo answered and smiled toothily, "I'm a glutton for the personal satisfaction of watching someone's hopes be dashed and know that they're going to keep experiencing it constantly."

"That's cold."

"That's life." The anti-fairy shrugged. "We're going off topic. Now, if fairies create happiness for people, then anti-fairies create misery. Our roles, as despicable as they may be to you and fairies, are vital for fairies to function." he went on and folded his arms behind his back, "Do you know why?" Timmy shook his head. "Most of the people who believe in bad luck and the triggers for it, thus giving us our power, are the youthful mortals of this world. In other words, it's mainly children and some adults who believe in bad luck, experience it when we unleash it on them and lash out at each other in their misery to create more pain."

"How is **that** helping anyone?" Timmy grumbled.

"Miserable children get fairy godparents, don't they?" Anti-Cosmo asked rhetorically and smiled as the light of realization dawned in the brunet's eyes.

"Oh, I get it! You cause bad luck and misery for people to stay healthy and the kids get fairy godparents to deal with misery, and then they grant wishes to make the kids happy and keep the fairies healthy!" the brunet exclaimed and the anti-fairy nodded.

"Happiness and joy, that's the key to fairy magic and Fairy World's existence. If people are too happy, however, then it's overpowering and fairies must pull away to survive." Anti-Cosmo added, "That's why we keep causing bad luck and misery, to balance out the joys with sorrows in a yin and yang."

"So you're actually important to keep everything going?" Timmy asked and the anti-fairy nodded again. "Then I guess you have to cause some bad luck to people while you're here. I don't like it, though."

"I'll pick between meals, then." Anti-Cosmo murmured, "I'm sure I know of some dimwits around here who could stand to have a little bad luck to keep them humble." He fluttered closer to the brunet, warily gazing at the Thunder Scepter in his hands. "That's not for me, is it?" Timmy shook his head and the anti-fairy looked relieved. "Right. Well, then. I suppose a disguise is in order. Hmm." he remarked and studied the teen before nodding once and popping into the form of a blue star pendant similar to the one he'd given him earlier, resting comfortably over the brunet's heart.

"This is gonna be a strange experience for both of us, huh?" Timmy asked with a grin, "So, what made you decide to hang out with me, if not for Wanda?"

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Timothy." Anti-Cosmo returned dryly, "It's very rude and it invites bad luck."

* * *

Shortly after the pickup in the downtown district, the Ivory Tower had only a few essential members of the teams gathered there. Team Phantom, Caleb, and Timmy stood around a lab table, gazing down at magitech armor lined up on the stark white and metal surface. The brunet had told them of what he learned about the new babysitter and her role in Remy's plots to steal fairies, but none of them had much idea of what to do to counter the new threat.

The current issue before them were the magitech suits. Though they worked wonderfully the previous night in protecting the other teenagers, they had one major flaw; Remy had the ability to wish the suits away. It had come into vivid play when he wished away the armor that protected Chester McBadbat, then hurled a fairy sword into the boy's chest, triggering the _Revive_ spell that spared him from true death. Timmy had nearly lost his mind again, spilling a vast amount of his personal mana into an explosion that scared the other blonde witless.

The Dark Spires that remained in Dimmsdale all had the same weakness; the Spire Server System at the top of each tower was responsible for running all the machinery in their respective region and were always in danger of overloading. By exploiting that weakness with dozens of kids racing around and forcing constant data dumps into the server system, the control servers would explode and force a shutdown of all anti-magic equipment under the Spire's control. The magitech suits were vital in that plan; they physically protected the teens, they held strands of Cosmo's hair to bait the traps, and they carried various items and weapons to keep the group safe. If Remy could just wish them away at any time, then the suits were just too unreliable to use.

"So what do we do?" Danny Fenton asked in confusion, scratching his head as he looked down at the suits. Relieved to be out of Phantom form among friends and family, he began with rubbing his arms to regain the feeling of solidity and warmth, then grabbed something to eat from the Tower's kitchen. He now stood with the remnants of a sandwich in one hand, studying the armors.

"I don't think I have the technology to create armors that are immune to Buxaplenty's wishes." Caleb sighed, perplexed, "The only way to stop something like that, as far as I know, is to attach a mini-nullifier to each set of armor."

"Like a fairy version of the Specter Deflector?" Sam Manson pointed out questioningly and both the angelic android and the halfa nodded in unison. "That could work if it didn't do it so well. The Specter Deflector hurt Danny as much as it hurt other ghosts. A nullifier hurts Timmy and the fairies on his side as much as it cancels magic from the enemy." she added in resignation, "Can't you fine-tune it so that it can make Timmy immune like you adjusted the Fenton equipment for Danny?"

"I've been trying whenever I had the chance for it. Tweaking the anti-nullifier is also taking up a large amount of time. I've got several assistants working on as many as ten or twelve projects concerning Timmy's quest alone." the angel replied and shook his head, "There are too many unknowns and variables in the manufacture and software of the anti-magic units for me to be able to isolate the frequency for fairy magic alone, much less adjust it to ignore Timmy's particular usage of mana."

"Can't you ask whoever makes the rules about wishes to make the suits immune to fairy magic too?" Tucker asked the brunet and Timmy shook his head.

"Jorgen doesn't do anything about Da Rules unless there's a really, **really** good reason for it. Changing them isn't something he does for any old reason." he returned, "He made it so that I was immune by saying it was a Fairy World-wide decision to disavow my continued life by not affecting me directly with their magic. I think he actually wanted to protect me for some reason. He's not gonna admit to anything though. So, there's not much chance of altering Da Rules to help us unless he can see it as a way of 'punishing' us."

The star on his necklace started dancing about excitedly and all eyes went straight to it in confusion. Caleb peered at it, eyes glowing as he scanned the charm. Danny immediately went back to Phantom form, the blue-white rings flashing over him as he leaped up into the air, glaring at the necklace with narrowed eyes. Timmy stepped back, startled as he looked down at the charm.

"I don't recognize the signature of that creature. It's touching off various markers for fairy magic, but it's too erratic to be completely fairy-like." Caleb finally deduced, "Timmy, what the hell is that and why are you carrying it around?"

"I beg your pardon?" Anti-Cosmo snapped, bursting out of the guise and flying up into the angel's face indignantly, "How dare you refer to me in that manner! I'll have you know...!" Caleb made one swift motion, knocking the anti-fairy to the table with the back of his hand. His face remained perfectly neutral the entire time. Danny, Sam and Tucker peered down at the blue-toned fairy in surprise as the angel folded his arms over his chest.

"I would appreciate it if you did not fly in my face like that." Caleb remarked evenly, "It's highly annoying and greatly interferes with my sensors."

"What is it?" Danny asked, puzzled as he poked at the dazed anti-fairy, "Is it sick? Is that color normal? It looks kinda like Cosmo if he fell into the prop box for an English play." Sam squealed in an unusually girlish fashion, folding her arms on the table as she took a closer look.

"He's so cute! I love those bat wings! Refined Goth... I'm so suggesting this look for the next Gothapalooza!" she purred. Timmy reached out and picked up the anti-fairy, face twisting slightly in annoyance.

"Guys, can you not do that to him, please?" he asked and helped the anti-fairy straighten out his hat and monocle. When he was in recovered condition and floating by the brunet, Timmy sighed and shrugged. "This is Anti-Cosmo, Cosmo's anti-fairy double. He's staying with me for as long as Cosmo and Wanda are staying with Sophia." he explained, "He's kind of a friend of mine." The others still looked confused so he gave a quick explanation of what an anti-fairy was and how he knew Anti-Cosmo. When he was done, he blinked and looked over at the floating anti-fairy. "Hey, why were you jumping around to begin with, Anti-Cosmo?" Timmy asked him.

"Hmm? Why?" Anti-Cosmo echoed blankly, "Um, well. I... can't remember." He furrowed his brows thoughtfully, then frowned, then huffed in sudden aggravation. "Blast it! It's happened to me again, and I blame that knock on the head!" he declared irritably, "I had a thought, but a lousy moment of sheer stupidity must have wiped it away!" He shook his head, tapping his wand against his arm. "Never mind me. Continue with your little problems. Perhaps it will return to me in time." he added. Caleb pointed at him.

"I want to run tests on him. He might have the missing piece we need to fully negate the nullifiers." the angel remarked and incited another yell of indignation from the anti-fairy.

"Not now." Timmy muttered, glaring down at the black armor on the table, "We can't use the magitech armor until we make them wish-proof, and without them we can't lay siege on another Spire." He waved a hand at them. "It can be dealt with at another time. I have another problem to deal with; this new babysitter. I have to find a way to get her out of people's homes or, better yet, out of Dimmsdale. There's no way I'm going to let her run off with some kid's fairy godparent to take to Remy just because he wants more fairy magic working for him!"

"Um, we're out." Danny remarked sheepishly, rubbing his head as he landed and returned to Fenton form, "We have no idea how to deal with evil babysitters." Timmy blinked, then smiled almost maliciously, the corners of his mouth nearly curling up to touch his partially closed eyes. "Oh crap. What are you thinking?"

"Actually, I rather like that expression. It gives the boy some charm." Anti-Cosmo put in cheerfully, twirling his wand in place behind his back. "So, dearest Timothy, what wickedly sinful thoughts are running through your mind? Do share, do share! The suspense is murder to me!" He seemed to dance in the air excitedly, clapping his hands.

"What better way to combat an evil babysitter," the brunet purred darkly, "than with a former evil babysitter?" The others looked at him in confusion but Timmy was already dashing for the door. "If I hurry, I can catch her on her way home from work! Caleb! Get your checkbook ready! Or just send Genis after me!" The android rummaged through his travel bag and pulled out another of various items he often stuffed in there for no obvious reason.

"I'll send Genis; I have tests to run." Caleb returned and whisked the butterfly net over the fluttering Anti-Cosmo, sealing the lip shut with a frying pan.

"What in blazes-?" the anti-fairy exclaimed in shock, clawing at the netting, "Treason!"

"Don't worry! He's harmless!" Timmy yelled back as he vanished out the door, "Bye, guys! Thanks for the help!"

* * *

Romi's return to Fairy World was not as harrowing as before, but it was almost nerve-wracking for Apollo. Between worrying over being connected to Cosmo and Wanda, and worrying over having been exposed to non-godchildren, the poor fairy swordsman didn't know whether to break into a sweat and nervous tic, or go straight into shock. Romi grabbed him by the arm and hurried down the street towards the Fairy Godparent Assignment Agency, a large building not too far from the Fairy Academy.

The Fairy Godparent Assignment Agency was simply that; a place to go to become a fairy godparent and pick up assignments to various children. The Fairy Academy served two major functions; train the godparents-to-be and license them, and train the soldiers in the Fairy Army for the defense of Fairy World. Working together, the thousands of fairies in both the military and fairy godparent roles kept the world healthy and running smoothly. The building for the assignment agency was large and a semi-gaudy pink with golden-shingled roofs, trying very hard to look homey and business-like at the same time and completely failing at it.

"Jorgen's gonna see us and we're gonna be dead. So dead. I'm never gonna see Trixie again and I'm going to fail my very first godchild assignment. This is a disaster!" Apollo whimpered softly as he was led into the building. Romi shushed him quietly and floated up to the reception desk, touching her wand to the bell. A receptionist poofed into view, hair piled up on her head and fingers twitching as though they still believed they were tapping at a keyboard.

"Mm-yes? How may I help you?" the woman asked as a greeting.

"Um, I'd like to know about a little girl in Dimmsdale by the name of Sophia." Romi began and the receptionist lifted an eyebrow, hands hovering over a newly conjured computer.

"Is that her given name or her nickname? And may I have a last name?" she returned dryly.

"Given name. Last name is..." Romi fidgeted a moment, then told the receptionist. The other woman's eyebrows both shot up in surprise, then nodded and went to typing.

"Let's see. Ah, here we are. Our records show that Miss Sophia was a Level Three child until just recently. She's dropped to Level Two and is continuing to fall out of the danger zone." the receptionist remarked, "She had been getting close to being a Level Four child; it's nice to see her falling to Level One."

"Yeah, well, there's a reason for that." Apollo put in nervously and took a deep breath to try calming himself as the receptionist looked to him in confusion. "You see, Sophia sort of hijacked Cosmo and Wanda from Timmy Turner."

**_"__What?"_**the receptionist shrieked and slammed her fist onto a conspicuously large red button by the computer, "Fairy Godparents! Fall in!" Romi and Apollo jumped in surprise as the vast entrance to the assignment agency was suddenly filled with hundreds of fairies of all colors, shapes and sizes, explosions of smoke and color bursting in a myriad of magical fireworks as still more squeezed into the area. Among them was a huge explosion, a blast of destructive power that revealed Jorgen Von Strangle, the toughest fairy in the universe. Apollo fainted from shock as Romi held up her hands to spare her eyes from the bright light of the incoming explosion.

"What is going on here?" Jorgen bellowed in a fury. The receptionist poofed her wand into a microphone, raising it to her mouth.

"Fairy Godparents! We have an emergency situation!" she declared, "A near-Level Four child in Dimmsdale, California has absconded with the Banished Fairies, Cosmo Cosma and Wanda Cosma!" Jorgen immediately lifted his own wand, preparing to blast somebody for the offense. "Now is the time to see which of you has the ability to become a Dimmsdale Fairy!" the receptionist went on, looking over the hundreds of serious little faces, "Reports from Earth state that the city is regaining magical balance, but there is still a long way to go in fully regaining the link to Dimmsdale. Our target child is a young girl just over three years old, prone to associating herself to the colors pink, red and white. Fairies with those hues are highly recommended!"

Romi pulled Apollo up, smacking him awake as a majority of the fairy godparents vanished, leaving behind those that matched the colorings called out. Jorgen stood over them, looking annoyed by the sight of the two Dimmsdale Fairies. The receptionist gazed up at the remaining fairy godparents, then continued.

"Those of you still here, your training will intensify for the trials of becoming Dimmsdale Fairies. Please select a physical weapon for the training. One or more of you will be selected to become the fairy godparent or godparents to this Dimmsdale child so the Banished Fairies will be free to return to Timmy Turner." the woman remarked, "Remember, you all knew this might have happened when you enrolled to become fairy godparents, so no blubbering about it and do your very best. The training will begin tomorrow morning at the usual time." The fairies floating before them nodded and poofed out of sight. The receptionist leaned over the desk and looked down at Romi and Apollo. "The soonest we can get a replacement for Cosmo and Wanda is a week from now. You two are Dimmsdale Fairies. Can you get a message to Turner? He should lay low for the time being but he shouldn't worry about wishes concerning him. All fairies are still bound by Da Rules, so he should be safe until those two return."

"You two! What happened down there? Tell me now!" Jorgen demanded of the two fairies staring up at him in shock.

"Ah, well, Cosmo got lost and then he got found by Sophia and then..." Apollo stammered out as Romi nodded frantically. They jumped at the wand suddenly thrust into their faces.

"No babbling! Just talk!" Jorgen barked at them.

"Timmy reunited with Cosmo and Wanda, but Sophia had grown attached to Cosmo and refused to give him up." Romi went on fearfully, "So rather than take Cosmo back and leave Sophia in misery with her babysitter, Timmy wished both Wanda and Cosmo to her until a replacement appeared to take their places." The muscle-bound fairy peered at her, waiting to see if there was anything more, then sniffed and straightened. He seemed satisfied enough, if not still a little puzzled.

"Nothing else happened?" he asked, scowling down at them. Apollo and Romi glanced at each other, worried. Should they admit that they had been revealed to non-godchildren? What about Apollo, whose sword had been used to 'kill' Chester, a human? Jorgen's fists tightened around the solid steel handle of his wand, eyes narrowing at them warningly. "**Nothing** else happened?" he repeated with a strange emphasis. Both fairies looked up at him, puzzled, then Romi's eyes widened in understanding. She shook her head, jabbing at Apollo to do the same.

"Oh, no, sir! Things are pretty much going smoothly for us. We've only come to make the inquiry because our godchildren made the separate wishes to reunite Cosmo and Wanda with Timothy Neogene." she explained hurriedly, "Tootie couldn't stand to see him so lonely, so she made a one-degree separation wish of asking if a fairy godparent could be assigned to Sophia."

"And Trixie felt bad that Sophia didn't have a fairy of her own, so she wished for one to be found for her. That's why I'm here. Romi and I just kinda met on our way here and decided to kill two birds with one stone." Apollo added eagerly. They both smiled brightly, innocently, and Jorgen seemed to relax the tiniest bit.

"As long as that is all that happened. Carry on." the fairy instructor agreed and turned to leave. Romi put a finger to her lower lip in thought, then called out to him.

"Um, sir? Has the Tooth Fairy ever found Chip Skylark? He was one of Timothy's friends, wasn't he? I heard rumors on Earth that he had thrown himself into Dimmsdale's sewer system." she pointed out and Jorgen looked back at her sternly.

"The fate of that puny little human is not of your concern. You are Tootie's fairy. Chip Skylark is under the jurisdiction of the Tooth Fairy." he returned, "I have work to do, so beat it already!" With that, he headed out of the agency. Romi and Apollo stood and grinned at each other.

"We got off easy. I thought for sure he was gonna find out what happened to us." Apollo remarked with a breath of relief as the two of them fluttered out of the building themselves.

"Yes. Now we must return to Dimmsdale and deliver the message to Timothy." the dark-haired fairy added, "He might not be pleased to know that he will have to wait a week before Cosmo and Wanda are able to return, but it is the best that can be done." Both fairies paused in surprise as they came across a plain brown package sitting on the sidewalk. "Oh, dear. Another one." Romi whispered and picked it up, gazing at the elegant writing on the top of the box, "I found one of these when I was recharging their wands. It even has the same initials on it. 'C' and 'W'."

"What is it?" Apollo asked, looking around nervously but no one was even paying attention to them.

"I don't know, but the initials mean that it's for Cosmo and Wanda only." Romi returned softly, "Should we give it to them directly or give it to Timothy for him to deliver to them?"

"Let's give it to them first. It's fairy business, right? Timmy doesn't need to know everything about us. Just enough to keep us safe, right?" Apollo remarked and the two fairies lifted their wands, poofing back to Earth below to make the trek into Dimmsdale.

* * *

Victoria snarled in a fury as traffic held her up on her way home. She loved the mansion she was now living in, the upgrade from looking like normal middle-class people to near upper-class status suited her just fine. She still had her job at the collections agency, her favorite part being where she would go and 'collect'. But whatever good mood she had been in after another successful day was quickly swept away by the traffic jam.

Some moron set off a frenzy somewhere about aliens or some junk and caused a huge tie-up.

She pounded on her car horn a few more times, growled irritably, then turned to snap at whoever was knocking on her window. A wide grin on his face, blue eyes twinkling cheerfully, she recognized that face and didn't know whether to brighten up at seeing him or scowl more that he had the gall to be smiling while she was having this wretched day. Victoria decided on rolling her eyes and unlocking the passenger door, grumbling under her breath as Timmy Turner popped open the door and plunked himself into the seat.

"Hey, Vicky!" he greeted cheerfully.

"Yeah, yeah. How's about using some of that fancy magic to clear a path for me?" she returned bitingly, "And for the last time, call me Victoria!"

"I dunno. I'm more destructive than constructive right now. I'll end up making the traffic stall longer." the brunet replied thoughtfully, pulling his backpack around and opening it up. He brought out a pair of sodas, handing one off to the young woman beside him, then tossing her a sandwich. "How willing are you to do something for the Heart of Dimmsdale?" Timmy asked lightly, twisting open his own bottle of soda. Victoria eyed him warily, opening the sandwich bag and soda bottle.

"You're a bit young for a blow job, kid." she returned and grinned at his wide-eyed look of shock, "That's more like it. Don't get cocky, twerp; it'll cost ya."

"I'll remember that." the brunet murmured in a more reserved tone. He shook himself off, sipped at his soda through a straw, then tilted his head in thought. "Victoria, how do you feel about starting up a babysitting service again?" he remarked. The woman wolfed down her sandwich, then held up a finger as she chugged down half of the soda in one sitting.

"Babysitting? Go back to that kiddie job of watching twerps like you?" she finally asked incredulously, "What for?" Timmy twirled the straw slowly between his fingers, a frown on his face.

"There's a babysitter that took over your old spot in Dimmsdale, and she's causing a lot of damage to those special kids I told you about." he began, "I don't think she's from here, or else she probably wouldn't be so mean to that Sophia girl I met today."

"Sophia?" Victoria suddenly exclaimed in shock, grabbing his shoulder and startling the teen, "This little witch was doing something to Sophia?"

"Um...?" Timmy stammered in surprise. Very rarely did Vicky respond to a name like that unless it was his own, and that had been before she learned Timothy Neogene was actually Timmy Turner. "Well, from what I was able to learn, this 'Meanie Jeanie' girl is paid by Remy to go around and force kids into being miserable until they gain that magical quality to them, then she takes it away to give to Remy for more money." he went on carefully.

"How the hell does that work?" Victoria growled, eyeing him suspiciously.

"It's kind of complicated, but it's doable." Timmy returned and sighed, "The quality I had... I gave it to Sophia to keep her safe from the babysitter..." Victoria stared at him in disbelief, then reached out and put her hand onto his head, studying him intently. He blinked, puzzled. What was she doing?

"Huh." the woman murmured and held out both hands, framing his face as she peered at him closely, "Huh."

"Victoria? This is kinda weird. Stop it." the brunet muttered warily.

"You **do** feel a little off." Victoria remarked quietly, quizzically, "You feel a little... weaker?" Timmy jerked back, alarmed. The young woman sniffed, sat back and folded her arms over her chest, huffing once to blow her bangs aside. "So this little freak of nature stole my spot as city-wide babysitter, is harassing our little Sophia, and got you to lose the magic feeling that made you so bubbly and the rest of us happy?" she summed up.

"Yup." Timmy agreed, straightening his hair back out as he took another sip of soda.

"That bitch." the woman growled, startling the boy again, "How dare that Remy punk bring in some idiot from outside Dimmsdale to screw with our kids' heads and hearts and make more of this stupid misery that could ruin us all!" She shot the brunet a fiery glare. "Okay, Timmy! You got me in this, twerp, now hand me a sword and point out where you want me to run it through!" He grinned at her.

"Finding your car was pretty easy; I just listened for the one with the angriest-sounding car horn. Now, getting you out of this jam is gonna be trickier." he returned and settled back in the chair. "I've got a friend up ahead of us who's working with people to get these cars moving out of here. When he's done, I'll point him out to you so you can pick him up and we can steer you to a place for a meeting with my benefactor."

"The guy who hid you from the world for those four years since you up and died on us?" Victoria asked dryly.

"The same. Just don't try hitting on him. He's way older than you and not all that interested in picking up girls." Timmy answered and closed his eyes, "Now, I'm kinda tired out from some stuff I did last night, so wake me when you see a kid with wild white hair waving at you." Victoria huffed again, but she managed a grin. Well, maybe the day was looking up again. After all, it's not every day an immortal kid asked someone to give them a hand in helping save the city.


	5. Chapter 5

5

Sophia clapped her hands cheerfully as Cosmo circled around on a set of large train tracks, transformed into a child-sized train that carried the little girl around. Wanda sat on the toddler's bed, watching them both with a wistful smile. The day was almost over, the sun sinking low in the sky, and still no sign of Sophia's parents had arrived. She wondered how Timmy was doing on his own and debated mentally on whether or not to let her husband know that his anti self had shown up out of the blue to deliver a message and warning to the brunet, leaving with him a charm meant to summon him at any time. The decision was dropped when Romi and Apollo appeared in the room in their respective colors of magic smoke, dark blue and red. Sophia laughed, holding a hand up to them in greeting as Cosmo continued making train sounds, tracing the tracks in its eternal path.

"More fairies! Hi hi!" she cheered. The newcomers waved at her, then fluttered to Wanda. The pink-haired fairy lifted her chin from her hand, gazing up at them in concern.

"Well? What did you find out?" she asked and Romi sighed.

"According to the Fairy Godparents Assignment Agency, the soonest they can get a Dimmsdale Fairy to Sophia is a week." Apollo told the older godmother, "You and Cosmo are going to be stuck here for at least seven days." Wanda closed her eyes in pain.

"A week? Without my _sunu_? That's going to be agony." she sighed and Apollo scowled.

"Yeah, I'm sure. And quit calling him that." he grumbled. Romi pulled the package from within the depths of her large sleeves, holding it out to her.

"We also found this for you. Another package just left behind for you and Cosmo." she added and watched Wanda accept the box, "We're going to head back to our godchildren, but I have to deliver the same message to Timothy. Good luck." With that, the two fairies vanished again and Cosmo popped out of his train form, setting Sophia safely on the floor as she rolled and giggled happily. He flew up to his wife, head tilted curiously as Wanda set the package down and opened it.

Just like before, there were letters and packaged treats and dishes from friends and family, clippings of newspapers and cards from those that wished them well and hoped that they could be reunited one day. Wanda picked out a letter, opening it up and reading with tearful eyes as her family offered words of encouragement and love, a steady hand in troubled times. Cosmo picked out a letter himself and skimmed through it, frowned, then reread it once more.

"Ugh." he murmured, "No." Wanda looked at him curiously and he only smiled at her. "Nothin'! Junk mail! I can use it for Philip's bathroom!" She laughed shortly, rubbing at her eyes.

"What about Pete?" she asked, pointing at the Reverse Doll charm that hung around his neck, a tiny figurine carved to look just like him.

"Pete's potty-trained." Cosmo returned proudly, shoving the letter into his pocket before turning back to the box interior. He picked out a second envelope, opened it and read the letter within. "Mama Cosma says this is all your fault." he reported and his wife snorted.

"She would." Wanda grumbled and looked up at the sound of a door opening, "The parents are home!" She grabbed the box, flew down to the floor and shoved it under Sophia's bed. Cosmo beckoned to the toddler and helped her onto the bed. Both fairies popped into teddy bear forms in Sophia's arms just as the bedroom door opened.

"Oh, thank goodness our little Sophia's safe and sound!" her mother declared in relief, "Chester is such a nice boy, leaving us a letter explaining what happened. I can't believe Jeanette just left her all alone here!"

"I'll say! We're going to have to hire another babysitter for her! We just can't trust anything or anyone that works for that rich kid in the upper-class district!" Sophia's father added in indignation, "It's a good thing Sophia's being weighed down by those suspiciously familiar pink and green teddy bears! She might have crawled right out of the apartment!"

"I'll get started on making dinner! C'mon, Honey! We have other parenting things to do!" the woman remarked brightly, leaving the room. Her husband waved his fists gleefully.

"Oh, goodie! I'll get the Timmy Turner Memorial candles!" he agreed cheerfully and closed the door. Sophia sighed happily and turned over in her bed, snuggling the two fairies as she settled for a nap. Cosmo and Wanda had stared in shock throughout the entire conversation that played out before them. They finally glanced at each other and gulped.

"Don't tell Timmy?" Cosmo asked shakily.

"Don't tell Timmy." Wanda affirmed and both whimpered softly in astonishment.

* * *

"I don't care how often you tilt your head this way or that, it's not going to change those readings!" Anti-Cosmo snapped irritably at the angelic android from where he lay strapped to a small bed that stood just below an elaborate scanning device. He struggled a bit more to get free. "And these stupid things chafe! Get me out of this blasted contraption!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Quiet. I'm analyzing your data." Caleb returned in annoyance and resumed studying the various readouts on the large screen in the Ivory Tower's laboratory. A few hours had passed since Timmy had run off in search of his former babysitter. Caleb, true to the scholar and researcher within him, immediately nabbed the anti-fairy in a butterfly net, locked him down onto a scanning bed with poly-carbonate straps to prevent escape and began a battery of tests and scans to wring every ounce of information about the creature from him. "According to what I can see here, your magical frequency seems to reside in the infra-mana, or negative, scale of magic more than the positive, or ultra-mana, scale that normal fairies use, rating it at about the same level as fairy magic on the energy spectrum but charted for the dark arts. It touches off several markers that bear similarities to fairy magic, but not enough to warrant you being an actual fairy."

"Of course not." Anti-Cosmo returned irritably, "I'm an **anti**-fairy! Didn't you listen **at all** to Timothy when he explained to you what I am?"

"Excuse me for not believing everything I hear until I have solid proof of it myself." the android replied dryly, "Further analysis and testing will need to be done, but I can hypothesize right now that since you are an anti-fairy, you should be immune to the effects of a nullifier." The blue-toned fairy mouthed out the words in mocking, then blinked at the sight of a second window opening on the main screen. Timmy's face appeared there, grinning proudly.

_"Hey, Caleb! Guess what? Vicky's gonna help us out with that babysitter problem! I just need to hammer some details out with ya!"_ he exclaimed. The android sighed, pressing fingers to his forehead as though he were contracting a headache.

"I don't want to get involved in that. It's not any of my business." he grumbled and clicked another switch, "Timothy, speak with Genis about it. I'm busy. Whatever you want, I already approve. Just don't bother me right now." Anti-Cosmo shut one eye, concentrating as he maneuvered his wand to point near the android's hand. Just a little bit more and...

A salt shaker blinked into existence just as Caleb released the switch. The movement of his hand tipped the bottle and spilled the grains of salt all along the keyboard. Startled, the angel blinked down at the mess, then cried in shock as the console seemed to crackle and blow apart, shorting out and releasing the anti-fairy.

"Hahaha! A little bad luck goes a long way, as you can clearly see!" Anti-Cosmo crowed victoriously, black star-topped wand still shining from the magic used to short out the console, "All I need is a trigger and the power of bad luck triumphs once again!"

"You little...!" the android fumed and snatched up the butterfly net once again, "That was my research data you just blew apart! Now I'll have to spend all day repairing this station just to get it back!" He chased after the anti-fairy, waving the net as both of them raced out of the lab, Anti-Cosmo laughing all the way.

* * *

Timmy puzzled over the lack of enthusiasm from the angelic android, then shrugged it off as his being more interested in studying Anti-Cosmo. Sitting at the conference table with Victoria and Genis, he laid out a scheme he felt would work wonders to drive out Jeanette. Both of them listened intently.

Backed by funds from the Hounder Organization, Victoria would open a babysitting service with a staff of Dimmsdale teens. Those babysitters would be hired out to the parents that were on Jeanie's clientèle list, free of charge. With more competition than she can cope with, Jeanie would be forced to abandon the city and Remy's plots.

"According to city reports acquired from the public display at City Hall, Jeanette's babysitting service is also free of charge. All attempts to compete with her have failed primarily because of price, but there has been suspected sabotage of unexplainable natures as well." Genis remarked, reading from a clipboard filled with sheets of facts, "For example, a small group of teenage girls tried to start up a babysitting business, only to find themselves constantly being diverted en route to every client's home. Almost as if they had been caught in a looping road that took them in circles."

"Sounds like a wish." Timmy grumbled and Victoria gave him a strange look. He gulped and scrambled for an explanation. "Ah, well, remember that magical quality I said certain kids had? Well, to use it, um, they make, uh, wishes. It's like a code word." He managed a wide smile. "Unless they say the 'wish' word, kids can't unleash that magic." The carrot-top peered at him through narrowed eyes, then sat back and huffed.

"If a kid can die and come back to life a week later as an immortal that can control lightning bolts and fireballs, then I guess I can accept the idea of a kid 'wishing' things on people." she declared and propped her feet onto the table, "So somebody 'wished' sabotage on the other babysitters? How are you guys planning on keeping that from happening to me?"

"More importantly, how are we to compete with Remial's service financially? If both services are to be free of charge, then how are we to convince the population to use Miss Victoria's service rather than Buxaplenty's?" Genis added in concern.

The three of them concentrated on that, thinking on different ways of protecting the service and the people involved in it as well as put them ahead of Remy. Timmy tapped at his teeth, then sighed, sinking down and resting his chin on the table in dejection. Victoria filed her nails, gazing thoughtfully at the ceiling. Genis sat in silence, eyes closed as his robotic brain ran through various ideas and simulations.

"We could put a nullifier on her and the babysitters to protect them from wishes." Timmy finally suggested. The half-elf shook his head.

"That would be detrimental to your health. You would have to avoid them as much as the anti-magic units." he put in, "Until we are able to isolate the wavelengths of magic the nullifiers are programmed to recognize and cancel, we can't use the stolen nullifier units ourselves."

"I'm not wearing anything that's gonna make the twerp sick." Victoria growled at him, "Not when he's all we've got to fix this stupid city." Timmy lit up and snapped his fingers.

"That's it! That's how we'll get the edge over the competition!" he exclaimed, "We'll deal with the wish part later, but I know how we can blow Jeanie away in the business!" The others looked at him impatiently. "Put my name on it! Dimmsdale values my name above all else, right? If you say something like you were dedicating the service to me and junk, then people will jump all over you for business!"

"Ego much?" Victoria muttered, eyebrow lifted at the words. The brunet turned on her in irritation.

"Hey! Did I **ask** to be this city's saint? I wanted all of you to forget me and move on; you guys are the ones hanging on to me so tight I can't even walk into the Wall-to-Wall Mart without seeing a bunch of teddy bears with my name on 'em for sale in an entire aisle!" he yelled.

"They're not 'teddy' bears; they're Timmy Bears." Victoria corrected with a grin, "Dimmsdale's specialty and very popular to be used as gifts to your grave." Timmy threw his hands up in exasperation.

"See? That's what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed, "So if people are using my name to boost sales of a bunch of stuffed toys, then why can't we use my name to save people?"

"So you want to call this new business...?" Genis began, waving a hand for someone to fill in the gap. The carrot-top stood up and cleared her throat with a grin.

"Victoria's Charity Babysitters! Dedicated to the memory of Timmy Turner, the beloved Heart of Dimmsdale! Let no other parent experience the loss of their own Hearts!" she declared and winked at the brunet. "Eh? Whaddya think, twerp? Catchy?"

"It works." Timmy mumbled with a sigh and Genis scribbled it down on the clipboard.

"Come back tomorrow, Miss Victoria." he told the woman, "We'll finish the final details and set up an office for you." She simply nodded, then turned and left the room, followed by Genis as he continued additional explanations. Timmy stayed behind, mulling over everything that had happened recently, mind spinning with all the problems and ideas and situations before he shook his head, resolved to deal with it all later, then glanced at his wrist.

"Oops. No Wanda means no watch." he muttered and sighed, "Man, I miss them. I can't even tell time without those guys." He yawned and stretched, then got up to look for Anti-Cosmo. Maybe Caleb was done with those tests by now. The brunet headed out of the room himself and cringed at the sound of something crashing into things and screaming. Maybe it didn't involve him... somehow... maybe...

"Get back here! You ruined my research data! And that was a priceless vase from the Balacruf Dynasty you just knocked over!" Caleb's voice shrieked in a fury, "When I get my hands on you, you flying rat, I'm gonna isolate the molecules in your brain and rip them apart, atom by atom!"

"Oh, do try it! It sounds simply delightful!" Anti-Cosmo crowed, zipping down a hallway while looking back over his shoulder, "Those wings might be big and flashy, but they certainly don't seem to be able to keep up with **my** speed!" The android barreled down the hall after him, net in hands and red wings flaring madly.

"I'll rewrite the mana signature of your bio-physiology and turn you into day-old cornbread!" Caleb threatened. The brunet only sighed and shook his head. Maybe bringing Anti-Cosmo into the Ivory Tower had been a bad idea. He grinned suddenly. Caleb getting something under his skin as payback for the crud he put him through; well, **that** was certainly worth the trouble.

* * *

Three days passed since Cosmo and Wanda left to godparent Sophia, and the S-List kept busy with helping put together Victoria's babysitting service. Between making calls out to advertise the service, cleaning up and decorating the office in a building located in downtown Dimmsdale, and monitoring the news channels for any information that the city was catching on to the idea that _something_ was happening in Dimmsdale, the members of Team Turner had little energy for anything else by the end of the day. There had been concerns, at first, about how Timothy could be doing without his fairy godparents. Tootie and Trixie both thought that he would be on edge at the very least. The whole group was startled to see that he seemed relaxed instead. A little odd, but relaxed. That quickly changed, however.

"Are you sure you're not at all lonely? I could come and keep you company." Trixie murmured, sitting close by him as they took a break from the decorating of the office space where Victoria's Charity Babysitters would soon be housed. She threaded one arm around his, resting her head on his shoulder with a small grin. Tootie fumed from where she stood painting walls. The raven-haired Popular stuck her tongue out at her, then resumed snuggling her cheek against the brunet's shirt. "I can always tell my parents I'm having a sleep-over at Veronica's place. Then, I'll be free to spend the night at your house!" she purred.

"Um, that's okay." Timothy stammered out, face turning a faint shade of red, "I'm fine. I have a... uh..." He floundered for a bit, then lit up as a wild idea struck him. "I have an uncle who came to stay with me for a while. He's from out of town and he's been out of the country for a long, long time. So, we both thought this would be a good time to catch up on things!" he remarked brightly. Trixie blinked up at him.

"An uncle?" she echoed, "Does he know about what happened to you?"

"Yeah, yeah. My whole family does." Timothy replied quickly, "We're used to weird magical stuff happening to us all the time! This is nothing!"

"I thought you said you didn't tell your parents you were resurrected." Chester pointed out dryly. The brunet floundered again.

"They didn't get the e-mail until last month! Everything's fine; why do you keep bothering me about it?" he exclaimed and broke away from the group to resume painting the walls as well.

Caleb had recovered his lost data and repaired the damage to the computer system in the Ivory Tower, and remained vaguely hostile towards Anti-Cosmo whenever the two were in the same room. Unfortunately for Timmy, since the anti-fairy had taken a strange liking to hanging around his neck and the brunet needed to be in the same room as Caleb to figure out what to do about further reverse engineering the nullifiers, this created a lot of tension and stress.

The S-List often found the brunet abandoning the group at the oddest times to seek out a quiet and peaceful place. There were very few places like that in Dimmsdale, and the only guaranteed place where he could find that kind of atmosphere was Timmy Turner's grave. And more often than the team liked, someone would have to be sent out to the cemetery to find him and drag him back to the Tower or the babysitter office to keep working. It got on their nerves and they hesitated only the tiniest bit in telling him so.

"I can't drop everything just to go looking for you!" A.J. exclaimed in annoyance, "I have to keep watch over the simulation program! There's stuff I need to do about the armors and the mana shield generator...!"

"Then **don't** go looking for me." Timothy spat back in equal frustration, "Just leave me alone and let me think! It's hard enough trying to do that with average brains and this stupid noisy yammering about stupid junk I don't understand!"

Team Turner had no ideas on what to do about the magitech armor, and every idea they could come up with to stop Remy's wishes from affecting them was shot down by someone or another for one simple reason. Nullifying fairy magic was a general procedure, and the devices cared nothing about what wishes came from what fairy. On top of that was the fear of them harming Timothy and Tootie, the non-fairy magic-users, and Caleb, the magical android.

Another day of work on the creation of the babysitting service and it would end badly for the young immortal.

.

"No, move it over to the right." Sanjay ordered Elmer and Chester, "That mirror would accent the wall in a most refined manner if you moved it closer to the table with the roses!" The two boys huffed and puffed as they shifted the wall ornament aside. They shot angry glares at the brunet that seemed to sulk in a chair in one corner, ignoring everything around him.

"Yo, Timothy! Dude!" Chester yelled at last, straining to hold up the weight of the mirror, "Quit that bellyachin' and help us out, man!" The immortal lifted a dull gaze at him, then rolled his eyes and resumed staring down at his boots. "Sheesh! He acts like somebody up and died on him." Elmer nodded in agreement, the sudden movement shaking the pink cap from his head.

"Elmer! You stupid boy! You dropped Timmy's hat!" Sanjay snapped, "Pick it up! Don't just stand there!" The two boys moved around in alarm, both to try to avoid stepping on the hat and incurring the wrath of a militaristic Hindu, and to avoid dropping the mirror and incurring the wrath of a very testy half-elf accountant. "Pick it up! Pick it up!" Sanjay barked, "Don't drop the mirror! Back up! This way! No, no, the other way!"

"This is gonna end badly." Apollo remarked with a grin, free to hover by Trixie as Victoria was off working her usual job.

"Oh dear! I hope they don't drop it." Romi whimpered, floating by Tootie and wringing her hands together, "That's bad luck!"

"It's just a superstition." Tootie returned dryly and looked over at the brunet sitting listlessly in the corner, "I hope he's okay. He doesn't look okay and he doesn't seem to act okay, but he won't let anyone go to visit him to see if anything's wrong."

"Steady! Steady!" Sanjay continued calling out as the two boys with the mirror seemed to dance about in a balancing act, "Oh no! Run!" He dashed aside as the weight finally won and both Chester and Elmer shoved the mirror away from themselves, jumping back with cringes as the ornament slammed into the floor and shattered.

"What the heck-?" Timothy exclaimed in sudden alarm, coming to life at the sound of the crash, "You guys-!" The charm dangling from the cord hung around his neck danced about wildly and he clasped a fist around it, glaring down at the charm. "I said no!" he told it firmly.

"I knew that was gonna happen." Apollo snickered at the broken shards of glass, "Boy, are you guys gonna get it from Genis! That thing was worth about fifteen thousand smackers!"

"Seven years bad luck. You'll probably start with a long chat with Caleb's accountant." Trixie teased and laughed. Timothy yelped in sudden pain as a blast of pale blue smoke erupted from his fist. The teens looked at him in confusion, then surprise as a second burst of pale blue appeared near him, revealing a blue-toned fairy floating there with bat's wings flapping madly.

"What fantastic bad luck!" Anti-Cosmo declared delightedly, "I haven't had a meal in ages, it felt, and you went and served me a fine course!" Timothy shook his hand off and blew on it, glaring up at him.

"You didn't have to jab my hand like that!" he yelled angrily, "And I told you to not do anything to my friends!"

"An anti-fairy! Eeeks!" Romi squealed in shock, pigtails erupting in frazzled black and silver puffs as she shot behind her godchild for protection. Baffled expressions crossed a majority of the teenagers' faces as Trixie pointed at the blue-toned fairy.

"Apollo! I wish that anti-fairy was gone!" she declared and her godfather hesitated, looking uncomfortable with the wish. Trixie blinked in confusion, then frowned at him. "Apollo! Why aren't you doing something?" she demanded.

"Fairies aren't allowed to interfere with anti-fairies. We can only lessen the effects of their black magic after they've cast it." he explained with a sigh and winced, "That, and that's not just any anti-fairy. That's Anti-Cosmo."

"Anti-_Cosmo_?" the group echoed in unified surprise and disbelief, staring at the anti-fairy.

"A meal's a meal. It shan't hurt that badly." Anti-Cosmo remarked idly and waved his wand at the two boys responsible for the falling mirror. Chester's belt buckle snapped, dropping the poor boy's jeans to the floor. Elmer stepped on Timmy's hat while backing away from the blue-toned fairy. Anti-Cosmo smiled brightly, twirling his wand in both hands gleefully. "See? Not that bad at all!" he remarked to the brunet.

"Fine. But that's it for today." Timothy grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

"What's Anti-Cosmo doing here in the human world?" Romi exclaimed in shock, staring at the brunet and anti-fairy, "I thought he was put back in Anti-Fairy World already!"

"He's staying with me for a while." Timothy returned coolly, "You don't have to worry about him as long as you don't trigger bad luck. Anti-Cosmo can smell bad luck all the way to Fairy World." The blue-toned fairy tipped his hat to the group, then flapped over to the young immortal and perched on his shoulder, taking up Cosmo's place as though it were his own.

"I _thought_ you felt weird to be around." Chester muttered, hitching his jeans back up and holding them in place, "That anti-fairy dude must be adding some weirdness to ya. Shouldn't you get yourself checked out by Caleb?" Timothy gave him a strange look, then did a half-shrug.

"Maybe. But Caleb and Anti-Cosmo have this thing going on between them that ticks me off really fast." he returned, "But whatever. I'll go see if there's anything to worry about."

"I wish Chester's belt was fixed." Tootie remarked and Romi waved her wand, pointing it at the snapped belt and magically repairing it.

"I wish the mirror was repaired." Trixie added and Apollo waved his own wand, sending the shards of mirror skittering back into place and merging into perfection. Elmer picked up the cap and winced at Sanjay's infuriated glare as both of them looked down at the rip in the pink fabric.

"Can somebody wish this back to normal?" Elmer pleaded of the two girls. Both of them looked to their fairies and received the same negative expressions.

"That hat belongs to Timmy Turner. Our magic can't affect it." Apollo told him. Timothy walked up to the boys and held out his hand.

"Let me." he muttered and took it in hand, looking down at it. He shut his eyes and took on a look of concentration. The S-List gathered to watch as the tear in the cap sealed itself closed perfectly, the faded color slowly regaining its lost hue in his hands. Finally, Timothy opened his eyes and looked down at the cap once again, a faintly sorrowful expression on his face. It quickly passed and he thrust the hat out at Elmer. "There. It's fixed. Now, take it away; I don't like being in contact with it." he grumbled, then left the office, the anti-fairy poofing into the pendant once again. Tootie watched him with a wary look, then set down her paintbrush and jogged after him.

"Something's not right with Timmy." she murmured under her breath as Andromeda poofed herself into the earring guise, "Let's go and see what Caleb might find out about him. Why would he be hanging around an anti-fairy? Especially one that's the opposite of Cosmo?"

"More than that, Anti-Cosmo is the most dangerous of the anti-fairies." Romi replied worriedly, "The exact opposite of Cosmo; if Cosmo is harmless and fun-loving, then Anti-Cosmo could bring destruction to others in a heartbeat!" The fairy then thought back to the attack on the last Spire, to the night she first witnessed 'harmless' Cosmo unleash a ribbon of magic that decimated a cloud of anti-magic units as though they were nothing but insects. Those memories contradicted her words, the general knowledge that Cosmo was only destructive because he didn't know what he could do or what he shouldn't do. That night was proof that Cosmo knew exactly what he was capable of, and didn't hesitate to use his power like that.

Maybe... maybe Anti-Cosmo **wasn't** the dangerous one...?

...

Nah.


	6. Chapter 6

6

Four days left, seven days total. That was how long he would have to go without Cosmo and Wanda. That was how long he was going to have to live without the two fairies that had been part of his life for years. That was how long he was going to go on solo missions without the support of Wanda's powerful Heartache Hammer and Cosmo's lethal Windcutter scythe.

He was starting to despise the little girl that walked off with the both of them.

"Ooh! I didn't expect dessert!" Anti-Cosmo laughed, "Such a marvelous bit of darkness you have hidden away!" Timmy blinked, then shot a glare down at the star resting over his heart.

"You quit it! I'm having a lousy week and the last thing I need is to have to deal with your black magic screwing people over." he grumbled, walking to the Ivory Tower with his hands shoved into his pockets.

"As I recall, **you** were the one who wanted me around." the anti-fairy returned coldly, "I can just as easily leave you to your own devices if you dislike the way I live. You are not my 'godchild'; I have no bond to you." The brunet clapped a hand over the pendant, shaking his head.

"No, no! Don't do that!" he pleaded softly, "I can't stand being alone, not when I'm the only one of my kind." He relaxed when the star charm made no motion to break free. Looking up at the Ivory Tower, Timmy sighed, then walked up to the front door, waving away the security guard standing at the entrance. Entering the building, he made his way to the lab room, murmuring to the anti-fairy to try to at least think about minding his manners.

"I **have** manners! It's that dolt with the angel wings and the butterfly net who's mortifying!" Anti-Cosmo returned irritably, "No more testing on me! It's debasing!" He poofed out of the charm disguise and perched on Timmy's shoulder, smiling. "I've heard of the magical abilities you've gained since your death. I'd like to see exactly what you can do with it." he remarked.

"Later. I planned on moving through the eastern district to see if I can carve a path to the junkyard, but with Cosmo and Wanda gone it's going to be much tougher to do." the brunet muttered, "You can tag along if you want, but you might want a physical weapon of your own. Magic doesn't work in nullifier fields." He paused at the door to the lab, hearing voices within the room.

"...are inconclusive. Further testing needed to confirm the findings." a feminine voice remarked evenly. Timmy recognized it as the voice of his 'orthodontist', Raine Sage, Genis' older sister. The half-elven android often acted as a receptionist of sorts at the Ivory Tower. In actuality, Raine was the one who first greeted Trixie when the girl came to the Tower with the records Caleb had forged online. But she was supposed to have returned to the Archive building in New York long ago; why was she back?

"It would explain a few things if the findings are true. Return to the Archive and continue testing the current data. I'll try getting additional information here." Caleb's voice returned curtly, "How has the petition to Fairy World's governing officials been going?"

"A message was sent to Fairy World concerning the recall of Cosmo and Wanda. Their response was from the military."

"And?"

"They are willing to revoke the banishment sentence on the two of them under the condition that Cosmo return to military duty under his project name."

"I don't understand that. Why would the military of Fairy World want that idiot?"

"They won't reveal their reasons, only that the sentencing will be revoked when it is confirmed that Cosmo is in their possession."

"Ugh, I hate it when people don't give me all of their information. Fine, I'll just have to acquire that data myself. Stall the response and make sure the fairies are not exposed to military personnel." Caleb sighed in exasperation, "Last thing we need is Timothy destroying this city in any attempt to break the link between Dimmsdale and Fairy World."

Timmy frowned, stepping back from the door as his fists tightened at his sides. Destroy the city to break the link? Heck, if they tried taking Cosmo and Wanda from him by force, he'd tear the state apart! Might take a while though, that was a lot of mana to be used. He was dimly aware of a strange sensation on his shoulder, then brought himself out of that surge of anger to note that it felt like trembling. He looked aside in confusion at Anti-Cosmo shaking on his perch, wand clutched in his hands and eyes shut tight.

"Absolutely not. Never, never, never." the anti-fairy whispered fiercely, "They can't have him. They **must not** have him!" Timmy poked at him and the blue-toned fairy leaped into the air with a shriek, eyes popping open with shock and monocle flying off from the movement. Had it not still been attached to his ear by the tiny black chain and stud, it would have landed on the floor and broken like the mirror. The lab door slid open and the angel stared out at them in surprise.

"Timmy? What are you doing here?" he asked and the brunet rubbed his head, confused with the onslaught of questions spinning in his head.

"Don't **do** that!" Anti-Cosmo snapped down at the teen, "You very nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Why are you trying to lift the banishment from Cosmo and Wanda?" Timmy asked the first question that popped into his mind. The android blinked down at him, then frowned, folding his arms over his chest.

"You were eavesdropping on me. That's rude." he berated, "I was trying to lift it so they could return to Fairy World. You're developing your magic at an incredible rate, gaining strength with each passing day. Soon enough, you won't even need fairy magic from them. You'll mimic it yourself."

"That's no reason to take them from me!" the brunet yelled, "You can't force Cosmo and Wanda away from me! They're my fairy godparents!"

"You don't **need** them."

"Yes, I do! They're my best friends!" Timmy snapped back, "And ever since I died in this town, they've been the only real family I had! You can't force a family apart!" Caleb lifted an eyebrow, gazing down at him.

"Family?" he echoed questioningly, "I had not thought of that. Fine. Do as you wish." He shot the baffled anti-fairy a glare. "And what is **he** doing here?"

"Keep your hands to yourself and I shall do the same." Anti-Cosmo shot back, settling down on Timmy's shoulder again, "And I highly recommend not allowing the Fairy Army to get their hands on my dimwitted double." Both brunet and redhead looked at him askance.

"You know something we don't about this?" the young immortal asked warily.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Just know that it is against the best interest of many living creatures to allow Cosmo to return to military duty. He's highly destructive, even when he doesn't mean to be." Anti-Cosmo murmured, "Recall Atlantis. He sank it nine times. Recall Pompeii. He incited a volcanic eruption that decimated the city. Recall his elementary school. He destroyed the entire building by painting a daisy that exploded once it was created." He gave the boy a sidelong look, rolling his wand between his fingers. "Do you really want to give the military Cosmo? A fairy with the potential of becoming a living weapon? You'd be giving a gorilla a ticking time bomb. They won't know what they truly have and just toss it at whatever they want, unaware of the destructive forces that bomb could unleash once the proper detonator has been activated."

"I don't get it." Timmy muttered and the anti-fairy sighed, shaking his head and spreading his hands in defeat.

"Then never mind. Let's just have those tests run on you and be done with this day." he griped, "It's dreadfully sunny and the laughter of children is grating on my ears."

.

It took less than an hour and the three of them were soon looking up at a screen filled with scrolling data and adjusting waves of some kind that Timmy had little understanding of and no interest in deciphering. Anti-Cosmo tilted his head, a vaguely lost expression on his face. Caleb just looked blank, masking his thoughts with the deadpan expression.

Some of the bits of data Timmy understood. There was a graph that charted, percentage-wise, how much mana he was currently using. It started off pretty low, like a zero to two. When he started gearing up for casting spells, the graph would jump to higher numbers. The stronger the spell, the higher the number. _Bulla Scintillare_ rated a seven on the graph, the mana shield he called _Boltzman's Shield_ rated a twelve, and his current strongest spell, _Lustrare Spiralis_, rated a good eighteen on the scale.

There was a second graph that charted the destructive potential of his magic, calculating how much damage a spell could do when he successfully hit a target. _Lustrare Spiralis_ had the damage potential of five thousand points. Timmy had been pleased with that number and strutted about proudly in the training room for a few minutes until Caleb told him that it was barely mid-level damage. His pride quickly deflated after he was told the damage potential of the Wonder Fork's _Incineration_ spell, six hundred thousand points before the sensors were burned away. It was the closest Caleb could chart and efforts to improve the sensors' ability to remain in one piece long enough for an accurate scan failed the moment the blast hit them.

Timmy found it odd that the damage potential for his spells increased whenever Trixie was in the room. Maybe there was something about her that acted like a boost?

There was a line graph that was supposed to chart his rate of heartbeat. It was currently flat-lined. Timmy sighed and lifted a hand to his chest, murmuring softly to shock his heart back into motion with a small _Lightning_ spell, wincing at the sharp pain before sighing in relief to feel his heart beating again. It was annoying, having to remember to start his heartbeat up each morning. He'd taken to just letting his heart stop and leave it that way -what good was a pulse doing him anyway?- but Cousin Danny had knocked him on the head a few times and told him to keep to a schedule about it. If he let his heart stay inactive for too long, it would weaken and he'd have to spend time and energy repairing it with magic and that was always tricky to do. Timmy once asked if he could just get the stupid thing removed so he wouldn't have to deal with it and was immediately slapped over the head by both his cousin and Wanda. It still didn't seem that vital to him; his blood ran on through him under magical influence and didn't care whether his heart beat or not. But may as well just have the heartbeat anyway, if it would make Wanda happy and keep him from getting smacked around by his older cousin.

There was a scan of his body, marking off old injuries that hadn't quite faded and a list of various injuries he had gathered over the years. Caleb made Timmy tell him about every little scrape and bruise he'd picked up since gaining immortality, primarily to force the teen into being more responsible about his body, but mostly to have a record of what Timmy's limits could be. So far, there were none. He hadn't liked the part about being partially disemboweled by Remy's golden robot ninjas early in his attempts to bring down the nullifiers' fields. It was painful, gross and the thought of having to hold his guts in his hands so as to keep them in one place while he cast _Cure_ made him want to hurl right then and there. Danny Phantom did, and he passed out right afterwards, spared from landing in a mess of blood, ectoplasm and vomit by Caleb grabbing him with his working hand. Since then, Timmy kept himself as far from potential disemboweling things as possible.

The rest of the scans made no sense to him.

"Okay, so am I fine or what?" he asked dryly, "Other than being bummed out big time without Wanda and Cosmo around, there's nothing wrong with me, right?"

"I'm not sure. Your magical signature isn't hitting off the proper markers." Caleb replied slowly and scratched his head, "Well, it is, but at the same time, it isn't. It's complicated." The other two in the room stared at him and the android sighed. "I had a theory about your anti-fairy friend there, and I didn't have the opportunity to test it out. But if I can conduct the experiment now, I might be able to show you what I mean."

"If you attempt to stick me with a needle of any kind, I'll bestow bad luck upon you the likes of which you'll beg to never see again!" Anti-Cosmo threatened as the android picked up a small nullifier unit. Timmy stepped back immediately, glaring at the device. Each time he fled Team Turner he'd been building up his resistance to the nullifier's pulses again slowly, walking through sections of the city that had increasing concentrations of anti-magic units. The ill feelings he usually got started off as normal, and began to weaken bit by bit as he stood in those areas, chatting quietly with Anti-Cosmo about his current mission. Once he felt enough time had passed, he would return to the cemetery to meditate on the problems of dealing with Jeanie and protecting the magitech armor. By then, someone from Team Turner would show up, gripe at him for abandoning the group in the middle of some project and haul him back to the office building.

Despite the promising results of his training, Timmy wasn't up for a full test of his efforts right at the moment. Caleb picked up a small trigger and moved a few paces away from the device himself, holding the tube-like device in one hand.

"I've wired that nullifier to be remote activated and deliver very short-range pulses. If Anti-Cosmo would be so kind as to stand by the device, we can start the experiment." he remarked and waited with a bit of impatience as the anti-fairy fluttered over to the unit and tapped at it with the toe of his shoe. The android clicked the trigger and the light of the nullifier winked on, glowing a soft red as it began pulsing the frequencies meant to jam fairy magic and cancel it out.

Anti-Cosmo stood there, unperturbed, and continued tapping at the device with his shoe.

"When are you going to start the bloody experiment?" he finally asked in irritation.

"You don't feel anything?" Timmy asked in shock, "Not even a little queasy or sick or something?" It had never occurred to him to ask how he was doing when they camped out in anti-magic zones for long stretches of time. To see him just standing there, completely at home, was startling. The anti-fairy looked over at him in confusion.

"Why? Should I feel something?" he returned and the android grinned.

"I thought as much! Being the opposite of a fairy means that anti-fairies tap into a negative stream of magical energy, infra-mana. Nullifiers can't detect negative energies because they were programmed to seek out the positive, ultra-mana magic of fairies!" Caleb declared in triumph, "Anti-fairies are immune to the effects of the nullifier!" Anti-Cosmo blinked at him, then suddenly broke into a smile, laughing.

"I can fly anywhere I want! Yay!" he exclaimed, then froze and shook himself off. "Blast it, blast it, blast it! I'm never going to escape that buffoon's influence, am I?" he complained, "It's not exactly good for my reputation to keep turning into that idiot at the oddest times!"

"All right, Timmy. Your turn. Walk up to the nullifier and we'll see if my hunch is correct." Caleb pointed out.

The brunet swallowed and began to slowly make his way towards the device, hoping he had the resistance built up enough. He'd been sick of walking around the city and avoiding close contact with nullifiers for fear of collapsing into pudding like he did before Remy in the school yard so long ago. For so long, he'd been able to take out nullifiers on his own, physically immune to the devices and the only one of the trio to be able to destroy them so that magic could be used. But then he began developing that ill effect and he soon became just as much prey to the nullifiers as Cosmo and Wanda. In the wide-range fields, the three of them could withstand the effects of anti-magic, but close-range ones, the concentrated pulses, overpowered him and the fairies combined.

He was standing at the device before he knew it, his reminiscing blinding him to the fact that he had reached the dread nullifier. And yet... nothing was happening. Timmy lifted his hands in confusion. No feeling sick or dizzy, no sensation of mana and magic being ripped out of his body, not even a slight headache. Had his resistance training worked? Was he once again immune to the nullifiers?

"I don't feel anything." the brunet finally remarked in a faintly surprised tone. He smiled. "I don't feel anything! I'm immune again!" he cheered, "Score one for being a human!"

"Actually, score one for adaptation." Caleb corrected with a grin, "I knew something was different about you. Ever since you picked up that anti-fairy for a companion, the signature of magic around you began to change. Your body seems to copy the magical signature of whoever is closest to you and molds your personal abilities and skills to match. It may be a result of your death and resurrection; the mana signature of a living being becomes blank when their life ends and your resurrection through Danny's power may have kept your mana signature somewhat neutral. So to keep itself stabilized, it may have begun adopting signatures from sources of high magic, picking up their traits in the process." Timmy stared blankly at the android and he sighed, one hand up to his face in exasperation. "All right. Let me try this. Imagine you are a chameleon, but instead of copying colors to camouflage yourself, you copy magic traits. By being in close contact with Cosmo and Wanda, both fairies, your body began to adapt to them, picking up and copying their traits for you to use yourself. Hence, your body began to become more fairy-like in magic usage."

Timmy blinked again, then looked down at himself. Fairy-like? Him? Was that why those fairy traps kept chasing after him even though he didn't have anything on him that had Cosmo's DNA on it? They kept mistaking him for a fairy? Man, Crocker's junk really **was** that; junk.

"Then you lost the two of them temporarily and picked up Anti-Cosmo for company. The change in magical traits around you has begun the adaptation process again. This time, though, it's changing you more quickly." Caleb went on, "Either because your body innately recognizes the usefulness of anti-fairy traits, or because it's gotten used to changing enough to be able to do it in a matter of days rather than months."

"So I'm going to become more like an anti-fairy?" Timmy questioned, "That's weird. How's it gonna affect my magic? I'm mana-based, remember?"

"Don't know. Try casting something." the android returned. The brunet held out his hands, calling up the enhanced _Bulla Scintillare_ he used so often as flash grenades. It bloomed almost instantly, ignoring the pulses of anti-magic designed to prevent their existence. But, something was wrong.

The spheres of concentrated Fire mana spun and orbited a larger sphere of mana. The spheres themselves were black in color instead of the normal red-gold that shone brilliantly. Timmy froze in place, eyes wide and face paling at the sight of the dark magic swirling above his palms. Anti-Cosmo gazed up at the spheres, tilted his head, then smiled again.

"Rather destructive-looking little things. I like it. Why on earth do you bother with sabotaging those Spires when you can just destroy them yourself with black magic?" he asked. The corrupt _Bulla Scintillare_ was immediately snuffed, the brunet still staring at his hands in disbelief. Caleb watched silently, a small frown on his face. He hadn't expected that either, and the idea of the adaptation doing more than just altering Timmy's magic traits for masking was somewhat worrisome.

"What's happening to me? I don't like this. I don't want this!" the brunet exclaimed in horror, "Is this going to happen to **all** my spells? What about me? What's going to happen to me?"

"Don't panic. It may only be a temporary malfunction. Try something else, something neutral." Caleb told him, "Cast that shield of yours. I'm sure it will be the same as before. You're the one thinking of them; your thoughts control the appearances of your spells."

_"I was thinking of them the way I always did!"_ Timmy yelled, "I didn't tell it to look like a bunch of black atoms!" He took a deep breath, tried to calm himself, partially failed, then stepped back. "Okay. _Boltzman's Shield_ is just a defense spell. I'll try it." he murmured and held out a hand, bringing up the crystal and shield that composed the reflective force field. Again, it changed.

Instead of the diamond prism that floated before his palm, a dark indigo sphere materialized in its place, spirals of mana the same color as the sphere rising from the floor and forming a dome over the teen. Rather than the shimmering crystal waterfall that formed a solid, translucent shield to protect Timmy, a spinning dome of indigo created a cage-like effect, jagged striations of magic allowing Caleb and Anti-Cosmo to see him clearly between the strips of indigo mana. The brunet had on that same terrified expression, the sphere flickering, then bursting apart in flames as the shield faded away.

"It changed." Caleb remarked evenly.

"I don't **want** to be like an anti-fairy!" Timmy shrieked, clutching his head in both hands, "I'm a human being and I will **not** let this stupid adapting thing screw me over! What the heck is going on with me?"

"Being human means dealing with the darkness in your heart." Anti-Cosmo muttered, "Don't blame me; blame the fact that you can't deal with your negative emotions." He waved his wand around absently. "I'm pure evil and destined for nothing but evil. I accept that fact. I accept the knowledge that I have only darkness for my life. Why try to fight it? It won't change who I am." he added, "Just as Cosmo is pure good, destined for light, and doesn't fight that truth. He accepts being light-hearted, he accepts being the happy and good little fairy.

"You are a human and contain both light **and** darkness in your heart. You acknowledge the light, but you reject your darkness. Pretending it doesn't exist in you will only make it grow in strength. Eventually, you'll tear yourself in two if you keep denying who and what you are."

"I'm going to be a Hero. I'm going to save Dimmsdale and bring happiness to everyone here." Timmy said in a slow, grim tone, "I am the good guy; I am **not** dark!"

"In one ear and out the other." Anti-Cosmo muttered under his breath, "Just like your father."

"Stop bashing my parents!"

"It's not causing any ill effects as far as I can see." Caleb interrupted, studying the brunet, "The spells may have changed appearances because of the adaptation, but as long as it's not affecting you harmfully, I don't see anything wrong with using them. Just bear with it until you get your fairies back to normalize again, or better yet, get rid of the anti-fairy and see what your true magical nature is."

"Forget it. I just won't use magic at all. Not if it's gonna freak out on me." Timmy growled, scooping up the anti-fairy and marching out the lab, "I can just smash anti-magic units with the Thunder Scepter until the week ends! I'm done!" He stormed down the hall, turned the corner and disappeared. Just outside the door to the laboratory, Tootie whispered her wish to become visible again and the dark blue flower in the bunch that decorated a vase lifted its wand in one leaf to grant it.

"That didn't sound good." Tootie murmured worriedly as the flower popped into the form of her fairy godmother, "Timmy copies the magic traits of whatever is around him? And that means his magic will act more like an anti-fairy's magic, right?"

"An Anti-Timmy?" Romi asked in concern and the young Goth shook her head.

"No. Nega-Timmy. Negative magic, negative emotions, all feeding from the darkness in his heart. That's kind of like what happened when he was little long ago, when he beat up Crocker and started fights in school." Tootie returned softly, "Anti-fairies are the opposites of fairies, but Timmy's not a fairy. So his opposite isn't an Anti, it's a Negative. Nega-Timmy. An Evil Timmy."

"What should we do?" Romi mumbled as the two of them began following the brunet.

"If he copies whatever is around him, then we should have him copy something good. Like a fairy." Tootie remarked with a smile, "I wish I had a clone of me living at home with my parents!" Romi blinked even as she waved her wand to grant the wish. "Now we'll go and move into Timmy's house with him. With the two of us around, he'll have to copy the good magic in you and me, and then he'll go back to normal!" the young Goth exclaimed happily.

"I should have seen that one coming." Romi sighed.

* * *

That evening was celebrated with the whole of Team Turner at the office where Victoria's Charity Babysitters would stand. The remodeling had been completed, Victoria had spent her spare time hiring various teenagers to work for her, and all that was left was to throw the party. With delicious treats, party favors, music and banners, the group was elated with the end of having to work so hard on something they still weren't sure was going to actually work.

Tootie approached Timothy during the celebration with her idea on going to stay with him to keep him company during the rest of the week. He refused at first, scowling and fighting verbally with her over how he didn't need anyone 'babysitting' him, but quickly lost when she pointed at the shining blue star pendant with a catty smile.

"Fine. Whatever. I don't care." he sighed, sulking in his chair again. Tootie grinned and hugged his arm, thanking him repeatedly for the chance to spend so much time with him. "Whatever!"

Trixie watched them from where she stood, fuming silently as Tootie startled the brunet by jumping onto his lap and giving him another hug, curling against him as cutely as an armed Goth could get. Her fuming went up another notch when he simply sighed and wrapped his arms around the little girl in a return hug. It wasn't fair. Why did he refuse to let the prettiest girl in Dimmsdale spend the week with him in his house, but then turn around and let that scrawny little Goth geek in?

"I wish I was the one to spend the week with Timothy." she murmured.

"Okay, I don't see a one-degree separation there, so I can't grant it. Sorry." Apollo whispered from her pendant. Trixie bit her lip, hands clenching into fists. So intent was she on boring a hole into the little Goth with her eyes that she jumped with a startled cry when someone bumped into her.

"Whoops! Sorry, Tricks." Chester remarked sheepishly, rubbing his head as he held a can of soda in one hand. "Elmer's trying to escape Sanjay again." he explained, nodding towards the two teens running around in mock argument over the pink hat again.

"Did Timmy really give that hat to him?" Trixie asked, somewhat relieved to find something to take her mind off of her previous loss. Chester nodded solemnly.

"That's how we all got that promise from him, and how Elmer got bound by it. Timmy gave him his hat and told Elmer that if he ever failed to fulfill his duties as Timmy, then Elmer would become the new Timmy Turner." he returned and smiled up at the ceiling, "I think he's proud of everything we're doing now. How we're all sticking together and fighting to take back Dimmsdale and fill it with the happiness he gave us."

"He's probably not happy with me. I'm the one who made him fall." Trixie sighed sadly. She blinked at the blonde hesitating for a moment before pulling her into a careful hug.

"He's not mad. Timmy's friends with everyone he likes, and he really liked you. He wouldn't blame you for anything." Chester told her quietly, a faintly nervous tremor in his voice, "So knock it off with playing the blame game. It's not fun and winning means losing." Trixie glanced towards the black-clad brunet not far from them. Timothy had closed his eyes, probably in meditation or something, he did that a lot, and he was resting his cheek on the little Goth's head. She sighed in dejection. She lost that round, but hey, the war was still on. That thought brought a small smile to her face. The war was still going.

The party ended when Victoria got up and demanded that everyone get out so she could get things organized for her first day of managing her business. She'd already ended her job at the collections agency once Genis promised her an ample paycheck for running the babysitting service and wanted to get the whole thing underway so she could run Jeanette out of town. The teens went their separate ways, each hoping that with Victoria on the job they could return to the problem of working on the magitech suits. Tootie made sure to tell her older sister that she was going to head straight home, then hurriedly joined the brunet on his way down the streets towards his own manor.

* * *

Since the fall of the third Spire, Oberon High School seemed to be filled with a tension that could not be explained easily. Remy avoided Timmy at first, but after having to sit in the same class with him a few times, he got over his fear of the brunet and resumed attempts to sneak anti-magic units into the school. Timmy would seek them out each day Remy looked pleased with himself for no apparent reason, then carry the device out to the yard where he would have the Thunder Scepter hidden, smash the unit with the electric sphere on the staff, carry the broken device up to the Populars' table and drop it before the group.

"Knock it off." he told Remy flatly, "It's getting old, it's getting tired, and I am not in the mood to be nice to you about this."

"What? Not going to hurl a magical explosive at me?" Remy returned tauntingly.

"Tempting." the brunet hissed, but turned and left the group of startled boys and girls.

"I saw Timmy at the grave again." Veronica whispered to her plush doll, "He goes there a lot now. I've been watching. I'll get my camera. I'll show you, I'll show everyone." She looked up at Remy with wild eyes and wide smile. "I'll prove to you all that the Heart of Dimmsdale is still alive!"

"Stupid girl. Stop babbling." Remy grumbled, sweeping aside the crushed nullifier unit in irritation, "How much longer must I wait for those control units to be done?"

.

Against recommendations by Caleb and Genis, Timmy and the S-List resumed their lunch routine at the school yard. Trixie chose to sit with them rather than return to her place at the A-List club. It was there, surrounding A.J.'s laptop and its eternal simulation program, that Timmy had a sudden thought about the program. He'd watched the model of himself fall several times before, each time annoyed by the program failing to do anything but prove his death was accidental, and by his friends refusing to accept that.

"Four years, over now by a couple of months, and still nothing." A.J. sighed between bites of tofu stir fry, "I don't get it. What are we missing?"

"Whatever happened to Francis?" Timmy asked suddenly, eyes on the model representing the bully that sat on the jungle gym. The group went quiet, looking at him almost balefully.

"We don't talk about him." Chester growled, "He pushed Timmy; Timmy died. End of story."

"After the investigation on Timmy's death, Francis was paroled for it. He would have been thrown in juvenile detention, but he was so gone mentally at the time that the law deemed him unable to be imprisoned." the African-American in the group explained, "He wasn't allowed back in school either; his dad was too afraid that the kids would lynch him the minute he walked in. He wasn't far from the truth. Every boy he picked on was ready to take him out for having gone too far."

"He's under permanent house arrest, as far as we know and care." Elmer grumbled. Timmy frowned and shook his head.

"That's not right. He's suffered enough about this; can't you guys forgive him and move on?" he asked and scowled as the S-List collectively shook their heads.

"That brainless behemoth took the Heart of Dimmsdale away from us!" Sanjay declared indignantly, "We will never forgive him! May Shiva crush his skull between her toes!"

"What if Timmy wanted you to forgive him?" the brunet asked suggestively.

"Have him come down from heaven and ask us. We'll forgive Francis if Timmy tells us to." Chester returned stubbornly, arms folded over his chest. The young immortal sighed and shook his head in exasperation.

"Fine. Sit here and be blind. I'm gonna go talk to Francis about what happened that day. Maybe I can help him work out that misery." he remarked.

"Or, we can aggravate it some and let me have a feast of darkness!" Anti-Cosmo laughed from the pendant hanging around his neck. Timmy glared down at the anti-fairy.

"I thought I told you to cut that out. I don't need you messing me up." he scolded the charm and stood up, "Francis is at home, right? Then I'll see you guys later."

"You can't just leave school! You need an excuse slip!" Chester exclaimed. The brunet rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I wish..." he began and blinked as Anti-Cosmo poofed out of his guise to hover before him, scowling.

"I don't grant wishes!" he snapped, "I cause bad luck and I create pain and misery with black magic. Unless there is a benefit to **me**, I will not grant a single wish!" The two glared at each other in a stand-off, the members of Team Turner gazing warily at them and preparing to run. Several minutes passed, then Timmy suddenly broke into a grin, a semi-evil expression crossing his face.

"Uh oh." Tootie murmured, sitting with the group in her usual routine while her clone spent the day in the Ivory Tower helping test various ways of protecting the magitech armor. "There's that copying thing again."

The brunet held out his arm to one side, a small mirror forming in the air out of mana the young immortal gathered up from around himself. Anti-Cosmo blinked in surprise at the conjuring of the mirror. It remained suspended as Timmy smiled wider at the anti-fairy.

"You know, I really like my classes here. I'm happy to know that I'm with other people again. I'm happy to think that this is a way I can be normal." he remarked idly and closed his hand, the mirror shattering as he tightened his fist. Anti-Cosmo twitched, eyes wide. "Oops. I broke a mirror. That's bad luck. I sure hope my classes aren't canceled because the teachers all lost their textbooks due to some hare-brained janitor thinking they were all outdated and throwing them out." Timmy went on, still grinning, "Because that would make me and so many other people really upset. We do so love our classes." Anti-Cosmo blinked again, then broke into a slow grin of his own, beaming at the young immortal.

"Clever boy. There's hope for you yet." he returned and waved his wand, the black star shining with dark light as he used the trigger to do just as the brunet asked. In minutes the school speaker system came on, the principal of reporting that a mistake made by a janitor had cost them a majority of the teacher's edition textbooks and that classes would have to be canceled until they were recovered. "Wish granted." Anti-Cosmo murmured softly, returning to the pendant guise.

"Gotta run! See ya!" Timmy exclaimed to his startled friends and ran off with a wave of his hand.

.

He hadn't gone very far before he came across Veronica standing on the sidewalk, gazing out at the city dully. There was a faint shadow of a smile crossing her lips, the plush Timmy doll cradled in her arms. Despite the small fears he still had of her insanity, Timmy made his way to her side, curious to see what she may be doing.

"Hey. Veronica, right? From the A-List?" he greeted softly, slipping into his Popular role, "Something up?" The blonde turned her head and looked up at him, glazed eyes dim with the lack of hope.

"I know he's alive, but he won't show up. He should be about my age, right? Maybe a little younger." she murmured, "Why won't he show up so that everything could go back to the way it was?" The brunet looked puzzled and Veronica held up her doll, its little limbs limp in her hands. "Timmy Turner. He's alive. I saw him at the cemetery; he goes there, like, all the time and just stands there, looking at his own grave." she whispered softly. She offered the doll to him and Timmy swallowed with some difficulty, taking it in his hands and looking down at the little features that had been his when he was young. The plush even had his buck teeth, large enough to settle over his lower lip even with his mouth closed.

"Veronica, that's not possible." he murmured, "He's gone. You know that, the whole city knows that. Why are you insisting he's still here?" Veronica's eyes hardened, flashing angrily at him.

"Because he is! I saw him! He _has_ to be alive!" she argued and folded her arms over her chest, "The Heart of Dimmsdale can't be killed! The one I love can never die!" She smiled, the mad light shining again in the bright blue of her eyes. "When I get the proof that Timmy's alive, this whole city will see that I was so totally right and all the happiness and joy he brought to us will be restored!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together.

"What?" Timmy murmured in shock, "What are you talking about?"

"Duh! Timmy's the Heart of this city. When he went away, all the life Dimmsdale had went with him." Veronica told him eagerly, "The only way to revive the city is to get Timmy back!" She held out her arms and sighed dreamily. "And when everyone realizes that I was the one who brought Timmy home, then no one will stand in my way to have him. I deserve him. My beautiful, dear Heart." the blonde went on, "He'll be mine for, like, ever. He'll totally forget all about Trixie and be only mine. I already have the _perfect_ wedding dress all picked out."

_"What?"_ Timmy shrieked in alarm, jumping back from her, eyes wide with horror, "Are you crazy? You're only sixteen! You can't marry a fourteen-year-old! That's illegal!" Veronica turned to look at him over her shoulder, a strange smile on her face.

"This is Dimmsdale. We will _sooo_ do anything for Timmy; even go to war." she whispered, "If I bring him back for everyone, there's no way they can refuse me the reward I deserve. Laws be damned; I'll marry him and keep him in Dimmsdale forever." The brunet clenched his teeth in frustration.

"Veronica... that's insanity." he growled, clutching the doll tightly in one fist, "He's dead. You can't marry a dead guy and definitely not when you're both underage." She only smiled mysteriously.

"You don't know us very well." Veronica returned softly and went back to gazing dreamily at the heavens, "He'll be mine, all mine. Forever and ever and ever and ever..."

"May want to move along, Timothy. She's lost to the memory of you." Anti-Cosmo murmured softly, "In some respects... I know how she feels..." Timmy warily set the plush down by her feet, then silently walked away from her, watching as the blonde seemed to remain completely oblivious to his leaving.

"...and ever and ever and ever and ever..."


	7. Chapter 7

7

Sophia peered into the baby basket worriedly as Cosmo lay there and stared blankly up at the ceiling. Wanda fluttered over the little girl, nibbling on her knuckle as she looked down at her husband in concern. The past few days with Sophia had been spent teaching her Da Rules and helping her understand exactly what fairies could and couldn't do. The bulk of that teaching had come from Wanda; Cosmo had gone off to a corner and just sat there, strangely quiet and with the oddest expression on his face. If she didn't know any better, Wanda would have said he was thinking a lot.

"Wan-dah." Sophia mumbled, still having trouble with pronouncing the pink-haired fairy's name, "I wish Cosmo was okay." Wanda sighed and stroked the little girl's hair, watching her husband glance towards them silently, then turn over to face away from them.

"I don't think a wish is gonna help him, Sweetie. Why don't you go and get some paper and crayons so we can color pictures in a bit?" she remarked and Sophia broke into a bright smile before toddling off to collect the art materials. With the toddler distracted, Wanda turned back to her husband. "Cosmo? What's wrong?" she asked, reaching out to run her fingers through his hair. So soft, like Timmy's. A brief pang of homesickness hit her then; she missed being home with their godchild. "Are you feeling sick?"

"Nothing's wrong. I'm fine. Go play. I'm bad at coloring." Cosmo muttered. He curled up tighter in a ball, grumbling something else in some strange tongue Wanda only half-recognized. There was the normal fairy language and mixed in were some terms she heard tossed around by soldiers in the military while training as a fairy godparent. Well, Cosmo had been part of the Fairy Army for a short while, a decade or so, so that was no surprise.

"Does this have anything to do with that letter you got in the package?" she pressed on.

"Forget the letter already." her husband hissed uncharacteristically, "Leave me alone!" Wanda pulled back in alarm and he sighed, hunching his shoulders up but still refusing to look at her. "Sorry. Head hurts. Go color. For me?" he amended in a soft, broken voice. She sighed as well, then fluttered off to join Sophia at her little table for drawing, careful to keep alert for the sound of Sophia's mother moving for the bedroom door. The woman had taken time off from work to stay with her daughter while she continued searching for a new, more responsible babysitter. Jeanette had returned the day after the girl was taken back to her apartment with the fairy couple and had tried to patch things up with apologies but both parents would not have any part of it. They had lost one child due to negligence before; they were not going to risk another.

Sophia was already working away at her construction paper, covering it in swirls and scribbles of color with a box of crayons nearby. She held up one sheet scrawled with pink and yellow and black, a smile dominating her face.

"Wan-dah! I drew you!" she laughed and Wanda smiled brightly, waving her wand and magically placing the drawing in a flowery frame that affixed itself to the wall. Sophia clapped her hands, then picked up another sheet of paper. "I drew Cosmo, too! See, see?" she added, holding it out to the fairy. Wanda blinked at the rendering of her husband. Near as she could tell, the drawing looked bedraggled, war-torn, as though something had used Cosmo as a chew toy and then threw him aside, forgotten.

"This is Cosmo?" she asked the little girl. Sophia nodded, pointing at parts of her drawing.

"This is the hurty on his hand. I gave him a ribbon to help it. There was a hurty on his back and I put a band-aid on it. His wing was tore up, but he didn't want tape on it." she described, then blinked as speaking of the fairy godfather reminder her of him. "Is he better now? He didn't look happy." she added.

"He'll be okay in a little while." Wanda assured her, then glanced back at the toy baby bed uncertainly, "I hope."

Curled in the little bassinet, the letter clutched in his fists close to his body, the green-haired fairy continued forcing his mind to ponder over the offer in his hands. It was like a kick to the gut, and every time he read the letter, the blow got harder to take. A military seal adorned the top of the paper, large red letters proclaiming it 'Top Secret' stamped just underneath it, and signatures from several of the most prominent and influential commanders in the Fairy Army graced the bottom of the paper.

Cosmo uttered a small soft laugh of despair. The dark voice had warned him that it would eventually come to this. The reason why the Academy had been so eager to have him even before Mama Cosma dragged him there to keep him from Wanda; the reason, the voice added coldly, why that cute little baby Wanda wanted so much was taken away so soon after she got it. It was now the greatest bargaining chip he had in his possession. All the hurt of being away from friends and family in Fairy World, all the pain of being banished and disavowed by the fairies there, would go away and be gone and the hurting would stop... if he just took the offer the letter had.

_"It won't fix Timothy's life."_ the voice remarked from deep inside his head, _"Wanda will be free to live and do as she pleases, but it won't help Timothy. It won't bring back his life. Not when it was stolen like that. He can get close, but you know it will never **truly** be the same."_ Cosmo whimpered softly at the words, then sighed, opening the letter to read it once more. The offer remained the same as the first fifteen times he read it; return to the Fairy Academy's services, and he and Wanda will no longer be banished. They would be cleared of the crime of letting Timmy die in their care. Wanda would be free to return to being a godparent, no longer bound eternally to the brunet. Timmy would be allowed the rare opportunity to live in Fairy World, away from humans that wouldn't understand him, among those that would accept his immortality and magical skills as the norm.

All of that, in exchange for Cosmo himself.

Part of him wanted to jump for the deal; his family was more important to him than his own life. After all, did the dumbest fairy in the universe _really_ deserve all that he had? He wanted to make them happy and free, and this seemed to be the easiest, best way to do it. But then there was that part of him that refused it to the core of his soul. Why? Because something terrible would happen if he said 'yes', according to that dark little voice. Something that would make lots of people unhappy, even sad or worse... afraid. But if Timmy was there in Fairy World, then maybe things would be okay. Timmy would take care of Wanda, keep her safe, protected, even from him. Was that enough to say 'okay' to the deal?

He'd have to think about it some more.

* * *

Timmy sighed tiredly as he sat in the back of the bus, watching the city streets as the public transit system took him to the neighborhood where he hoped Francis still lived. The confrontation with Veronica had been highly unsettling, and it took a majority of the wait for the bus and part of the bus ride itself to calm himself down and file the experience away, hopefully to be forgotten but mainly to be kept notice of for future awareness. Tapping his fingers on the armrest, he waited for his stop to come, listening to the soft humming of the star pendant hanging over his heart.

Having Anti-Cosmo stay with him for so long had shown the brunet that there was more to the anti-fairy than just wanting to plunge the world into eternal bad luck and stay out of the clutches of Jorgen Von Strangle. It was still a little strange to wake up in the mornings and spot a cobalt blue fish floating in the fishbowl on his night stand, miraculously maintaining the monocle and derby hat in that form as he dozed quietly. He had offered Anti-Cosmo a room of his own for the week he was going to be staying, but the anti-fairy had chosen to stay in the fishbowl.

"You're depressed and miserable, dear Timothy." Anti-Cosmo had remarked with a grin, hovering over the glass bowl, "Why on earth would I miss even a single delectable moment of that?"

And yet in some moments, when the anti-fairy wasn't aware of being watched, the mischievously gleeful look on his face was replaced with a quiet, brooding expression. Timmy couldn't quite tell if he was concerned about something, or just sad. But what would Anti-Cosmo be sad about?

"Willowbrooks!" the bus driver called out and Timmy pulled the cord to signal that he wanted to drop off, then headed out once it stopped at the corner. He paused at the door, looked over at the other passengers, then tried to cheer them up with a bright smile. The passengers only scowled at him. One held her purse closer, glaring at him suspiciously. With a sigh and a shake of his head, Timmy hopped off the bus and began the trek to Francis' home.

"Maybe this adaptation thing has some truth to it after all. It was Cosmo and Wanda hanging around me, cheering me up all the time, that gave me the influence to make people around me feel happy." the brunet muttered, "And now I'm doing the opposite of what I wanted to do; I'm making people feel bummed."

"I know. Delightful, isn't it?" Anti-Cosmo purred in pleasure, "Such lovely misery all around us. I do hope you keep passing it on." Timmy rolled his eyes and jogged up a walkway to the front door of a small white house whose yard seemed less a lawn than it was a jungle of overgrown grass, weeds and broken parts from various toys and cars. Looking around at the mess in uncertainty, he reached out and cautiously rapped on the door. He adjusted the gloves on his hands, waiting for a response to the knock. No fingerprints, no evidence that Timmy Turner had contacted something four years after his 'death'; the precaution was becoming more and more second nature to him and Timmy hated it. But Danny had been adamant about keeping his identity secret and who better to lecture him and train him on that than someone who had to keep himself as much a mystery as possible to everyone around him, including federal agents?

The door cracked open and Timmy blinked up at the burly man that was Francis' father. He flexed massive fists held at his sides, sunken, bloodshot eyes taking in the young teen that stood at his doorstep. He was fairly clean-shaven, but dressed in sweaty work-out clothes. For a moment, neither one said a word, only stared at each other. The man snorted through one nostril and Timmy stepped back instinctively, swallowing hard.

"H-Hi..." he stammered out, "Um, is Francis home?" The man's eyes narrowed at him and Timmy scrambled for a story. "I'm new to Dimmsdale, so I'm kind of confused about a lot of things." he remarked quickly, "Everyone keeps going on and on about this Timmy Turner kid and I wanted to know more about what his deal was, so I figured I'd come and talk to Francis about it."

"You gonna hurt 'im?" the man finally growled out in a deep, hoarse voice and Timmy looked surprised. Hurt Francis? Chester and the Others hadn't been kidding; there had been people who actually wanted to do physical harm to the school bully for what had happened?

"No, sir! I just want to hear the story from his point of view." he answered quickly, waving his hands for peace, "I mean, he must be pretty miserable himself, what with getting blamed for a tragedy while young and everything. So I figured he should have a chance to say his side and get it off his chest at last." The pallid father scowled at him a little longer, then finally stepped aside to let him in. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder as he closed the door.

"In the basement. Watch yer step." he rumbled and stomped off to continue whatever he'd been doing, probably punching something... or someone. Timmy gulped as he made his way to the basement door.

"A little bad luck for the ape-man?" Anti-Cosmo asked and the brunet only flicked the pendant before opening the door.

The staircase was dark and narrow. Timmy reached out tentatively, sought the handrail and grabbed on. Stepping carefully onto the steps, he began the descent into the foreboding room. It was eerily silent and the darkness in the passageway made him want to conjure up the Light orb for illumination. Timmy lifted his hand, paused, then set it back down. No magic. Not if they were being turned negative.

A few more steps and the stairs began to creak, as though they'd been damaged by something and complained under the weight of anything else using them. There was a light nearby, sparing him from the desire to conjure his own. It didn't reach out very far from the source, so he still kept a grip on the handrail as he made his way to the bottom of the landing. And it was while Timmy stood there, seeking out where the light was coming from, that his situation, as well as his view of the world as he remembered and knew it, changed entirely.

Lit from above by a single light bulb that dangled from among cobwebs was the dome-shaped jungle gym that had stood in the school yard at Dimmsdale Elementary four years ago. The exact playground toy that had taken his life from him. Staring at the assembly of metal, the room seemed to spin slowly around him, giving Timmy a vaguely nauseated feeling. What was that _thing_ doing in Francis' basement, and how did it get there?

As he stood there, frozen to the landing while trying to get his mind to return to the here and now, a figure moved in from the shadows beyond the light's reach, stepping into the field of illumination around the gleaming metal structure. A near spitting image of his father upstairs, Francis merely stood by the jungle gym, gazing at him silently, reddened eyes narrowing slightly at him in momentary suspicion before relaxing and turning to look upon the contraption.

"Took a while, but it's here." he finally said. Timmy couldn't even bring himself to focus enough for coherent speech, the memory of falling from that thing playing itself out in his mind with vivid clarity. Falling, pain, then cold and darkness, and then the visions of purgatory. Of losing his emotions to a beautiful field and then being carried through a desolate wasteland in the arms of the Grim Reaper. Of losing all sense of time and space. "It's only a copy. Built it myself from the blueprints of the original. Found 'em online." Francis went on, seemingly at ease despite the spinning of the room with the jungle gym its center focus, "Four years in this house, by myself, with only online classes... changes a kid, y'know?"

Still nothing from the brunet.

"They said it was an accident, but they blamed me anyway. They wanted to put me away for life, but I got spared 'cause I was just as messed up about the whole thing as everyone else." the former bully remarked calmly, "So they let me off easy; parole, house arrest, monitoring anklet, that sort of thing. Heck, all that time not punching kids and actually doing school work got me to using my brain and I learned some useful stuff. Mostly that no one was actually looking into what really happened that day." He looked over at his visitor again, but Timmy was more interested in trying to keep his lunch down, eyes still locked on the jungle gym in horror. "They never really paid attention to what I was trying to tell them, so I decided to do an experiment of my own and figure out what caused the whole thing." Francis continued, "So I went online, got some images of the jungle gym to help me track who made it, nabbed a copy of the blueprints after some fast-talking and built this duplicate from parts my dad brought for me."

It was all so very wrong. He knew it, but getting the rest of his brain and thus his body to register anything beyond the nightmare that was history was nearly impossible. He was shaking, that much he could get; he was shaking and he had never wanted Cosmo and Wanda with him so badly than he did at that moment. Falling and falling, over and over; his memories and A.J.'s simulation seemed to blur together in his mind and he wanted so much to just break into screams as he watched himself be mangled by a possessed jungle gym in that cursed imagination of his.

"I almost have it figured out, I think. It's taking a while and it was kind of crazy, but I had a hunch there was more to me nearly falling off that thing myself than just a slip on the bars. See, I never slip; my hands are pretty strong compared to the other kids' grips. But when I gave that shove, I damn near fell off the thing myself." Francis commented idly and reached out into the darkness beyond the single light, "Here. Let me show you what I've done so far."

There was a click, and the entire basement was flooded with light. Timmy gaped in shock at the arrangement of computers, worktables, gears and cranes set up all around the jungle gym. And though everything looked stationary, there was still that damned sensation of the room whirling around him, slowly at first but growing ever faster as the moments stretched by agonizingly. Screens flickered, lights blinked at him, the whirring and hissing of mechanical devices filled his ears and it was with a sick realization that Timmy found himself staring at a workstation so like the Crocker Cave that it seemed surreal.

"It's all in where you look at it." Francis whispered just loudly enough for Timmy to hear and that was it for him. His mind couldn't take the bizarre scene and broke under the vision.

Racing back up the steps, the brunet had only one thought; escape. Escape the madhouse, escape the monstrosity that had taken his life, the person responsible for the initial fall, the lair that had been the source of so many miserable conflicts with his insane teacher, just escape it all and go back to normal life.

But what was normal? What was life? Where could he go that could provide a safe haven from this madness?

And it was to escape the demons of the past that Timmy fled for the cemetery once again.

* * *

Remy was not pleased at all by the current events. Jeanette was quickly losing ground and clients as the new babysitting service opened and parents jumped at the chance to have native Dimmsdale teens babysit their kids. That community spirit thing was getting annoying and it worked against what he wanted. Dimmsdale kids banded together too easily and tried to cheer each other up rather than inflict misery on one another, a trait that they claimed to have learned from the selfless Heart of Dimmsdale. Whether that was true or not meant nothing to Remy, only the knowledge that if they weren't making each other miserable, then no one would be getting fairy godparents and he wouldn't have the opportunity to steal them for himself.

He had yet to successfully capture, keep and use a fairy for himself. Apollo had been close; another few days and he would have broken the fairy swordsman's spirit enough to lay claim to his supply of magic. But then he managed to escape, and he blamed Timothy for the breakout even though that whole night seemed like some strange dream. In fact, most, if not all, of the fairies that had been captured during the early months of the Dark Spire project had been taken to Crocker, where reports came that they had all died in experimentation. It had been a massacre, and for days afterwards, parents in the city had no idea why their children suddenly became so unstable and depressed, even suicidal, when just a while ago they had been calm and even regaining their cheerful natures.

So Jeanette's usefulness to him was quickly waning. He'd have to deal with her fairly soon and put more effort into getting his own fairy capture units spread out into the city.

There had been a call to him earlier that day; some strange explosion had been set off at the construction site of Spire Seven and the entire compound had been destroyed. It had not been discovered until the panic in the city had calmed enough to let his construction crews get out to the site, otherwise he would have known sooner. Investigation teams had picked through the rubble and came away with small samples of a strange green goo that were sent to a private lab for examination. Remy had not been happy with that and promptly fired several servants in his mansion to get back into a good mood. Fine, whatever. Let Timothy and his little allies have their jollies in blowing up the old Spires. Once the blueprints for the National Spires were perfected, he'd have those built in their place, guarded 'round the clock by the best security money could buy. He'd like to see them just try to blow _those_ away.

With the rest of school canceled due to some bizarre stroke of bad luck which he immediately blamed Timothy for, Remy found himself with the rest of the day open for just about anything he felt like doing. First thing he did was put in a call to Crocker for an update on the control units.

_"The assembly lines have little over two thousand additional units built of the original three classes. They are spreading through various sectors of the city, as the fairy with the DNA lock was reported as moving through those sections. The software for the control units is only thirty percent complete, so don't expect the actual units for another week or so."_ the retired teacher answered grouchily, _"As for the designs of the National Spires, I haven't worked out all the weak points, but the current Dark Spires are learning from each other every time that boy successfully destroys a tower. Using the data gathered on him and his tactics, I should have an impenetrable design shortly."_

"Once the designs for the National Spire are complete, I want them built in Dimmsdale immediately. I don't want that Neogene mongrel to have any opportunities at destroying **those** Spires." Remy growled, "Find a way to get rid of that orphan brat before he damages my beautiful Spires any more!"

_"I've been studying that little contraption you sent; that one with the strange technology making up the bulk of its components. I think with a little more effort, I can use this technology to enhance our current units as well as design something to deal with him non-lethally."_

"No! I want him gone! Gone, gone, gone!" Remy yelled in a fit, "I want that stupid immortal _out_ of **my** city and _out_ of my life! How dare he come here and have comprehensive knowledge of things he shouldn't know about! I want him gone, you hear me? **Gone!**" He clutched the phone tightly in his grip, fury building at the memories of all the destruction the brunet had caused on his expensive Dark Spires. "He's affected by nullifiers, Crocker, and you had better develop a stronger one specifically to target that bloody annoying gnat!"

_"Nullifiers are designed to target fairy magic. Unless this kid is a fairy in disguise, he shouldn't be affected by them at all. However, if I can get a reading of what frequency of magic he's using, then I can input that data into the nullification software and it will cancel out his magic."_

"And **how** are you to get a reading?" the blonde asked dryly.

_"The same way I got the original reading for fairy magic. Get me a sample of his DNA. I'll decode the frequency of magic from it."_ With that, Crocker hung up the phone. Remy blinked at the receiver on his end, astonished and baffled. That was it? Well, hell, was that old fool expecting _him_ to go and get a DNA sample? Oh, that was bloody hilarious. What was he expected to do, walk up to Timothy and pleasantly ask him to spit in a cup for him? DNA sample, indeed; the mongrel would sooner spit in his face than let him run off with something like that.

But on the other hand...

"Even an immortal can be identified by their genetics, am I right, Juandissimo? He had to be born in order to die, correct?" Remy mused aloud. The Latino fairy looked up in alarm from where he sat on a nearby lounge chair, brushing his hair back into its usual ponytail. "I can kill two birds with one stone if I can get a sample; Crocker can target his magic specifically and I'll have the evidence I need to finally trace that mongrel's history and use it to prove that he is a lying, thieving little wretch!" the blonde declared in a bright tone and jumped up from his chair eagerly, a brilliant light of emotion shining in his eyes. "That's it then! I'll hire a few of the local hooligans to pester that little Spire-wrecker as much as he pesters me and get the sample we need! A few snips of hair, a small spattering of blood; surely we can get something off of Neogene that will help to further our wondrous projects!"

"This will all end in madness. I can feel it in my oh-so-sexy bones." Juandissimo sighed, shaking his head almost despairingly as the blonde picked up the phone and began dialing again.

* * *

The S-List kids spent their time at the Ivory Tower, going over the problem of the magitech armor once more. Despite all the tests and experiments done by the androids that stayed at the Tower, there had been no successful ways of protecting them from wishes without causing harmful side effects to the other fairies or to Caleb. Tootie stayed as far from the armors during testing as she could, unwilling to experience even a bit of the ill effects the other magic-users went through whenever a nullifier was activated near them. None of them had heard word from Timothy since the brunet ran off to speak with Francis about the accident, and the majority of Team Turner didn't care to hear of what happened once he returned. Which he still hadn't and it worried Tootie and Trixie both.

"It's been hours since he took off. Where the heck is he?" Trixie groaned in boredom, stretched out on a couch as A.J. and Sanjay clustered around the laptop again, studying the simulation program intensely.

"That's six variables and still nothing. It's even started to repeat scenarios." the African-American grumbled, "I don't get this!"

"Maybe this is like one of those unsolved mysteries from that one show." Chester sighed hopelessly from his place at a table, "Like, one of those things that can only be explained by God and He's not gonna spill the beans 'til we're all dead. Y'know?"

"Can somebody get Timothy on the phone and have him get over here? Testing those armors would be easier if we had him helping us." the raven-haired Popular declared and wove her hands behind her head, "Besides, he's supposed to be in training. Caleb said so."

"He's not gonna train. He's refusing to use magic." Tootie shot back at her in irritation. The group looked over at her in confusion and she fidgeted, aware that she had spoken about something she knew Timmy wouldn't want anyone knowing about. "Um. Never mind." she squeaked.

"No way, Toots. Come on. Why's Timothy pulling the plug on his magic? He was conjuring stuff fine just a while ago." Chester pointed out suspiciously. Tootie shook her head helplessly, hands spread out.

"I dunno. I listened in on Caleb while he was running tests on Timothy and he said that he's being affected by Anti-Cosmo. Something about copying the traits of anti-fairies is changing how he uses magic." she returned lamely, "So he got mad and said he wasn't going to be using any magic until he got Cosmo and Wanda back so that he could copy their good magic instead of Anti-Cosmo's black magic."

"Rough." Elmer murmured and pointed at his hat, "So then why didn't he end up using magic to destroy the hat if he's using black magic now?"

"I'm not sure. He sounded like he was trying to force himself back to using good magic, but he's not doing so well at it." the young Goth returned and looked over at Chester as the blonde pulled out his cell phone and started tapping at keys. "What'cha doing?"

"What's it look like? I'm gonna get Timothy on the phone and ask what the hell's going on." he remarked and set the phone down on the table top, "Okay, it's on speaker so we can all talk to him. If we're lucky, he's done chatting with that bully and we can get some stuff straightened out with him." The phone rang a few times before it was finally answered.

_"H-h-hello?"_ Timothy stammered out weakly. The group of teens looked at one another in concern, then down at the phone.

"Timothy? Are you okay? You sound like something screwed you over." Chester asked in confusion.

_"I want to go home... It hurts... It's cold... and dark..."_ the brunet's voice whispered shakily, _"I didn't want to die. Why? Why? I was just a kid."_

"Something's wrong. Francis must have done something to trigger a memory or something." A.J. muttered with a frown, "If Timothy's reliving the last moments of his life, then he might end up getting so freaked out that he'll end up running to where he died."

_"No, not going there. It's... too painful..."_ Timothy answered suddenly, voice still shaky, _"I just... the memory... I never wanted to die... I didn't want to remember how I died."_

"Did Francis do this to you?" Sanjay asked angrily, "I knew he was going to end up hurting someone again!"

_"No, he didn't do anything. It was... the basement..."_ The brunet broke into a soft, agonized moan, _"No, no, no... too many horrible memories... I don't want to go back..."_

Chester made a quick motion with one hand towards A.J., who bent to work furiously at his laptop. Sanjay peered over his shoulder with him, studying the screen as Elmer twisted the pink cap nervously in his hands.

"Timothy, pull yourself together!" Trixie snapped suddenly, "Focus on our voices! Don't break down now; we still need you!" Tootie shot her an angry glare, cheeks flushed with contained fury. How dare she talk like that to her poor Timmy? He needed them for support now, and all Ms. Popular could think of was whipping him back into Hero Mode!

_"Kept spinning... it was all spinning and I felt sick to my stomach and all I could think of was falling..."_ Timothy whimpered, a sudden sob obscuring some of his words, _"...cold... so cold and dark..."_

"Got him! GPS tracked his phone. He's at Dimmsdale Cemetery!" A.J. announced triumphantly.

"Falling? You died in a fall?" Trixie asked in surprise, "Something spun and you fell? Is that how you died? I would have thought it was something more exciting, like a murder or something." She sat back with a look of slight disappointment on her face. "I guess he wasn't bluffing when he said he died in an accident." The rest of the S-List began jumping up and heading for the door and she looked at them in surprise. "Where are you going?" she exclaimed in confusion.

"To get Timothy back! That's what friends are for!" Chester called back, "C'mon, Tricks! Let's go!"

.

Team Turner raced down the streets of Dimmsdale for the cemetery, the fading sunset lighting their paths in streams of red and gold. Chester kept the phone on, calling into it every few minutes to be sure the brunet hadn't completely snapped while on the line. Between cries for his parents and pleas to be taken away from 'the cold and the dark', it was easy to hear that the young immortal was quickly losing himself to the horrors of his own memory. Tootie clenched her teeth together, unable to bear the thought of her crush suffering because of his encounter with the one who killed him. It had been a horrible idea; why didn't she try to talk him out of it? Why didn't she at least go to be sure he would be okay?

"Hey, you still there?" Chester called into the phone.

_"No kid should see what I did. No kid should be trapped with the memories. Why did I die? Why did I live? It's a curse... I don't want to be here, like this..."_

"That doesn't sound good." A.J. muttered, carting his laptop under one arm as he jogged alongside the blonde on the group's mad dash for the cemetery, "Timothy! Snap out of it!"

_"A.J.? Why do you keep trying to figure things out? It won't help me. I'm gone, gone, gone forever."_

"Uh oh." Tootie murmured, eyes widening. Not good, not good at all! Timmy was so out of it, he'd started babbling and it would only be a matter of time before he said something that gave him away.

"What's he talking about? We're working on Timmy's accident, not Timothy's." Elmer questioned in confusion. The other boys glanced at each other, perplexed, then down at the phone. "Timothy, stay right where you are. We're coming to get you and take you back to the Ivory Tower so you can get some help." he told the brunet in a calming voice between puffs of air.

_"I don't need help! You can't help what's dead!"_ Timothy snapped back harshly, _"Just leave me alone! Stop that stupid simulation, stop trying to put my name on everything, stop putting me on that stupid pedestal! Get on with your lives and leave me out of it!"_

"I think he's going crazy." Chester remarked in surprise.

"That poor boy! His mind has snapped like a celery stick and that anti-fairy is the ranch dressing!" Sanjay exclaimed in alarm, "He is confusing himself with our dear Timmy!" The dial tone suddenly came on and he blinked at the phone. "And he has hung up on us. How rude." he added.

"That's okay. We're here." A.J. pointed out, pausing at the entrance to the cemetery, "We know he likes hanging out at Timmy's grave, so let's check that out first." The group hurried into the cemetery, moving straight for the little tombstone that was so often buried with toys and flowers.

Sure enough, they did find Timothy there, sitting against the stone in a dejected huddle, shivering. Anti-Cosmo perched on the grave marker itself, looking strangely wilted. His bat wings drooped down from his back and he appeared as though he'd lost interest in being mischievous or devious. Tootie raced past her friends to kneel by the brunet, worry creasing her little face as she nudged at him. He glanced at her with haunted eyes, then shut them tightly and shuddered almost violently.

"It was there. Every last bit of it." he whimpered, "It was sick! Sick, sick, sick!" Tootie blinked, tilted her head in confusion. "The jungle gym. He had a copy of it built there in the basement." he murmured with another shudder, "And Crocker's lair; he had that too. I wanted to throw up, everything kept spinning even though nothing moved."

"Dude, you totally had us freaked out, man. What the heck happened? What did Francis do to you?" Chester asked in confusion as he and the Others finally reached him, "Toots! Is he okay?"

"He said Francis had a copy of the jungle gym in his basement." Tootie answered quickly, standing up and between him and the group of boys, "The same jungle gym that Timmy fell off of four years ago." The S-List suddenly looked murderous.

"That jerk! He probably built it as a trophy!" Trixie growled viciously, "No wonder Timothy is so out of it; coming face to face with the thing that killed the Heart of Dimmsdale could give any one of us a panic attack!"

"We should blow that thing away as a warm-up to tearing down another Dark Spire." Chester hissed, cracking his knuckles together.

"Much as I agree with Chester, this could actually be some useful information." A.J. grumbled, "What else was in there? Anything that could help with my program?"

"He said that the basement looked like Crocker's lair, and that everything seemed to be spinning even though nothing moved." Tootie added and looked puzzled, "Crocker had a lair? Is that where he first came up with all those fairy traps?"

"Yeah." Timothy muttered, uncurling and looking up at the group tiredly, "Sorry about all that. It... wasn't easy to see all that. Brought back bad memories."

"Of your own fall?" Trixie asked quietly and the brunet blinked at them in surprise.

"My what?" he echoed and turned red, "Did I say that? No! I meant I fell from, uh... good standing?" The S-List stared at him blankly, then took on a collective expression of disbelief. "Okay, fine. So what if I fell off of something myself? Why do you think I was gung-ho on helping out your city in honor of that kid buried here?" Timothy grumbled, folding his arms over his chest, "And Crocker had a lair under his classroom in the elementary school. Timmy told me about it in some of his letters." He blinked suddenly. "Hey! Why didn't I think of checking that out before? There could be tons of information there we can use to help us destroy the Spires!" he exclaimed.

"Everything spun, but nothing moved. What kind of observation is that?" A.J. mused aloud, perplexed by the words, "When did you get that feeling?"

"When I first saw the jungle gym. Can we drop that subject please? My stomach's already turning at the idea of it." Timothy groaned, turning a vague color green.

"The anti-fairy looks like he wants to puke, too." Chester agreed.

"Too... much... positive... feeling..." Anti-Cosmo griped slowly, "This tombstone's full of it and it's sickening!"

"Then get off." Timothy grumbled, picking him off by the back of his collar. He stood, dropping the anti-fairy onto his shoulder. "Okay, let's head back to the Ivory Tower. I want to get some things straightened out with Caleb before I get home. We'll keep working on the magitech armors tomorrow." he added and sighed, "I hope Cosmo and Wanda get back soon. Things would be easier with them around." Taking one last look back at the small grave marker, the group nodded in agreement and made their way out of the cemetery.


	8. Chapter 8

8

The final day of the week-long separation came, and it took the combined efforts of the whole S-List group to keep Timmy from racing down to the sector of the city where Sophia lived and start ransacking the place for his fairy godparents. To ensure that the transition went smoothly, both Romi and Apollo returned to Fairy World to escort the new fairy godparent down to Dimmsdale. Surprised by the overactive fairies dashing about the world in a strange frenzy, they darted about the crowds in their race for the Assignment Agency.

Within the building, the receptionist was already typing up the last details for the new fairy godparent. Romi and Apollo flew up to the front desk, greeting them both as brightly as they could.

"Ah, good, I was going to call for a military escort but you two will do just as well." the receptionist remarked idly and waved her hand at the pink-themed fairy floating by them, "This is Rosette; she'll be Sophia's fairy godmother."

Rosette waved at the pair of fairies cheerfully, her pale pink hair styled in a ponytail with ribbons that seemed to scream 'wannabe porcelain doll'. Dressed in a bell-shaped pink and red dress with a bow so large it could have covered her head, she seemed too sweet and sugary to be a Dimmsdale Fairy. Apollo looked her over, then gave a disdainful sniff.

"You're going to be the newest Dimmsdale Fairy? How'd they manage a screw up like that?" he asked dryly, ignoring Romi's fierce shushing.

"I was very diligent in my training. I have all the qualifications to be a bona fide Dimmsdale Fairy!" Rosette returned proudly, a Southern belle accent heavy on her words, "And, sirrah, let me tell you that I have never missed a target in sharp-shootin'!" The other two fairies blinked in unison, uncertain of what they heard.

"Sharp-shooting?" they echoed and Rosette pulled out a very large rifle from behind the giant pink bow on her dress, hefting it onto her shoulder as the sight clicked down over her eyes.

"Indeed! Top o' the class, good ol'-fashioned sharp-shootin'!" she laughed, "This little darlin' can take out a basilisk at a hundred paces! Laser-guided, shoulder-mounted, reinforced barrel, arrow-head tip for maximum emission dispersal; a sniper'll get taken out by one of these and never know what hit him!" The sight clicked back up to let them see the gleam in her pastel pink eyes. "Using swords and the like leaves such a bloody mess all over the blade and one's finery; so uncivilized." she added with a smile, "I much prefer the clean distance of a fine rifle."

"It's very nice." Romi remarked with a hesitant smile of her own, "Well, then, shall we go to Dimmsdale? Timothy is pretty eager to get Cosmo and Wanda back."

"Big... gun..." Apollo stammered, eyes wide as Andromeda grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and led both him and Rosette out of Fairy World.

.

They took the roundabout route to get to Sophia's apartment and peered through the window to watch the little girl. Wanda spun Sophia around by the hands, twirling happily as the two played out a lively ballerina wish. Romi scanned the room and looked over at Apollo in confusion.

"Where's Cosmo?" she asked and jumped as the green-haired fairy dropped in on them from the roof.

"Waiting." he answered simply and blinked at the startled group, "What?"

"Don't scare a poor girl like that!" Rosette exclaimed, waving her hand over her face, "My poor heart!"

"What were you waiting for, Cosmo?" Apollo asked in confusion and the older godfather shrugged.

"Nobody. I think." he returned and looked past the group, "Timmy's coming." The trio of fairies turned to watch the S-List clustering around the brunet, trying all they could to stall him. Rosette smiled and curtsied to the group.

"Well, then, I'd best run along and do my little entrance. Do take care of these dreadful devices that cancel out fairy magic." she remarked and waved her wand, disappearing in a puff of pink smoke.

.

Inside the apartment, Sophia and Wanda both looked up in surprise as a yellow-striped cue ball dropped in from nowhere and rolled before the little girl. Sophia picked it up, puzzled, then dropped it with a startled yelp as it cracked open and allowed a swirl of pale pink to stream out into the air. It spun into itself and then poofed into the figure of a pale pink fairy in a bell-shaped dress.

"Hello, darling Sophia! My name is Rosette and I am your very own fairy godmother!" the fairy declared brightly and fluttered down to float before the little girl, "I'll be staying with you from now on, Sophia, and we're going to have marvelous fun together!" The toddler stuck her thumb in her mouth, stepping back apprehensively as she tightened her grip on Wanda's hand. She looked up at the other fairy and Wanda managed a smile for her sake.

"Isn't that great, Sophia? You've got your very own fairy godparent! It's time for me and Cosmo to go now." she told the toddler and Sophia whimpered, shaking her head. "Now, Sophia, this is what we promised, remember? We would stay long enough for a fairy to come and be with you. Then we would go back to Timmy."

"Mmm!" Sophia murmured angrily and Wanda sighed, amending the name for the sake of soothing the child. She pulled her thumb free and stamped her foot. "Why, why?" she cried, "Don't go! My friends! You and Cosmo **my** friends!"

"**We're** going to be friends now, little Sophia. You and me." Rosette tried to assure the toddler, reaching out for her hand, "All your wishes, all your dreams; I'll be the one to grant them for you. I'll stay and be your friend." She smiled gently. "I bet you have the cutest little smile when you're happy!" she went on, "Do you like dolls, Sophia?" The little girl nodded hesitantly. "Me too! I like the little dresses and brushing their hair." Rosette exclaimed happily as Cosmo popped into the room, puzzled. Sophia looked up at him and whimpered again.

"What's going on?" the dapper fairy asked in confusion, looking around at the girls.

"Sophia was going to show me how she takes care of her dolls, right?" Rosette asked the little girl, "May I see them? I'm sure they look simply delightful!" Sophia seemed uncertain, looking between her and the fairy couple several times.

"Wan-dah... You going away? With Cosmo?" she finally asked softly.

"We have to go, Sweetie. We have our own godchild to look after and we have things to do. We're saving the city." Wanda returned with a sad smile, "But we'll miss you and remember you. You'll be our friend and we'll be yours, even if we can't be together anymore." Sophia sighed and nodded.

"Okay. We'll be friends." she murmured and lifted her hand, waving slowly at them, "Bye-bye." Wanda sniffed and hugged her.

"Bye, Sweetie. Be good and remember to follow Da Rules with Rosette. She'll take care of you from now on." she told the girl and finally pulled away. Sophia gave Cosmo a final hug.

"No more hurties, okay?" she whispered, "No more band-aids."

"You can always wish for more." Cosmo returned cheerfully and rubbed her head, "Bye, Sophia! Have lots of fun!" The two broke apart and the fairy couple lifted their wands, waving them in sync to vanish in a puff of smoke. Rosette sighed and gave the girl a comforting hug of her own.

"Don't worry, Darling; they'll be just fine." she told Sophia, "They're going to save Dimmsdale with Timmy! We'll all be just fine!" The girl frowned and looked up at her new fairy godmother, shaking her head.

"Uh uh." she scolded, "First rule here. Can't call anybody else Timmy." Sophia turned and pointed up at a framed photo on her bedroom wall. "Mommy said that it's **his** name, and it's the rule." she finished firmly. Rosette sighed and shrugged.

"As you wish, Sugar Beet." she returned and resumed the ballerina wish that Wanda had granted.

* * *

"Will you just hold still and wait for them to come to you?" Chester yelled in aggravation, digging in his heels as he held the brunet back from the apartment building. The majority of the morning had been spent alternating between wishing obstacles to block Timothy that were avoided by the use of Anti-Cosmo's black magic, and physically clinging to the teen to slow his progress. The anti-fairy fluttered over the group lazily.

"At this rate, your reunion with those two fairies is going to be held back until next week." he remarked dryly, looking aside in mild surprise as an explosion of smoke appeared before the S-List. Timothy halted and looked up at it joyfully.

"Cosmo! Wanda!" he exclaimed, holding out his arms towards them. Wanda cheered happily and flew down to hug him, immediately chattering on about how she had missed him and couldn't wait to get back to freeing Dimmsdale. As the group put in their own greetings and welcomes, both fairy and anti-fairy hovered over them, gazing at one another warily.

"Hmm. Still in one piece, I see." Anti-Cosmo remarked casually, "And still in what passes as your right frame of mind."

"What are you doing here?" Cosmo asked in return. The anti-fairy grinned and lounged in the air.

"Oh, nothing evil, dear double. Well, not _particularly_ evil." he laughed and made a show of playing with his black wand, "I was just doing dear Timothy a favor by keeping him company while you and Wanda went gallivanting off for a week." The green-haired fairy snorted incredulously. "Don't believe me? Why not ask him yourself? If it weren't for this little feud between that Remy bloke and the _neveu_, I wouldn't even have **been** here." Anti-Cosmo went on idly.

"Don't call him that." his fairy double grumbled, shaking his own wand at him, "Now you shoo!" The anti-fairy lifted an eyebrow at the words.

"'Shoo'? I beg your pardon? You're _shooing_ me away?" he echoed indignantly, then sniffed and fluttered back from him before dropping down onto the brunet's shoulder, "I'll have you know that I was summoned here by Timothy and I'm not leaving until I finish getting what I came here for." The young immortal blinked at that and turned his head to give him a wary expression.

"Wait... what? You mean you only agreed to hang out with me to get something?" Timothy asked in alarm. The S-List kids looked between the two of them, once again preparing to run in the case something broke out. Anti-Cosmo chuckled darkly.

"Well, it was more of a bonus, really. I picked up a little information here and there while posing as your pendant, and I believe it will be of great use to me." he answered, "Really, dearest Timothy, were you expecting anything from me other than my usual evil tricks?"

"Ah... well..." Timothy mumbled in an injured tone, "Actually, yeah. I kinda liked having you around. I thought we were getting to be, y'know... friends..." The anti-fairy stared at him in disbelief, then narrowed his eyes, leaning close to peer at the brunet's face. He huffed suddenly and fluttered quickly away from him, folding his arms over his chest.

"You're a foolish little boy and a dolt, destined to follow whatever path others lay out for you." he growled irritably, "You believe what you want and what you think is truth, but if you bothered to sit and _really_ use that bloated mass of gelatin you call your brain, then you would see beyond it all!" He turned his back on the group in indignation. "I've gotten what I wanted, and now I'm off to spread misery and concoct a scheme to free my brethren! The stench of _friendship_ here is appalling." Anti-Cosmo declared and vanished in a burst of blue smoke.

"Good riddance." Trixie sniffed as Apollo poofed himself into her pendant.

"Looks like I'll be moving back home." Tootie sighed, "I didn't even get a chance to really put that time to good use." Wanda and Cosmo only blinked at the empty space where the anti-fairy had been, then glanced at each other, shrugged and poofed into their usual guises on the brunet, pink watch and green iPod. Chester tapped him on the shoulder and motioned in the general direction of Victoria's Charity Babysitters.

"C'mon, Dude. Let's go. Icky Vicky's gettin' on our case about a bunch of thugs messing with the babysitters. She wants somebody to rough 'em up, magic-style." the blonde told him and headed off. Timothy followed them for a moment, then paused and looked back worriedly.

"He looked strange." he murmured and gazed back down at his fairy godparents, "Is it just me, or did he look kinda sad?"

"It's Anti-Cosmo, Sport. You know how devious he can be." Wanda pointed out in mild exasperation, "He was probably trying to use your emotions against you."

"I guess." the brunet sighed and smiled, "It's good to have you guys back. I really missed you."

"It's good to be back, Timmy. And we missed you, too!" Wanda returned cheerfully, "Now, let's get back on track and save the city!" Timmy nodded brightly at that and jogged after the rest of Team Turner, waving at them to get them to slow down and let him catch up.

* * *

It was a strange scene that greeted the group of young teens as they ran for the office building that housed Victoria's Charity Babysitters. Victoria herself stood between her group of babysitters and a small gang of thugs, clutching a pair of swords in her hands. She scowled fiercely as Team Turner joined her on the street, taking up protective stances to keep the other babysitters safe.

"What the heck's goin' on here?" Chester growled, glaring at the thugs across from them with their armament of chains, hammers, pipes and studded knuckles.

"They showed up out of the blue and started messin' with **my** gang!" Victoria snarled, "Look what they did to our van!" The teens looked over at the black vehicle, taking in the sight of dents and scratches, punctured tires and broken windows and mirrors. "They want protection money or something; they said they wanted a service from us for their 'Boss'!" the carrot-top grumbled.

"Are the babysitters okay?" Tootie asked worriedly and her sister tossed her head back towards them.

"Some of them got roughed up by these punks as they were escaping the van. I want a piece of 'em all, but I'll make do with watching the twerp flame-broil 'em!" she returned. The teen girls in their black shirts and jeans all huddled together behind the barrier made up by the S-List and their worn out manager, eyes wide as they watched the stand-off. The lead ruffian grinned as he stepped forward, swinging a chain in one hand as he took in the sight of the teens before him.

"Dis it? Dis is all ya got to save yer skin? A bunch a wimpy kids?" he laughed derisively and glanced towards an alley, "'Ey, Boss! Get a loadda dis piece a crap! She's got kids as bodyguards!" He looked back at the group. "We'll make dis quick 'n painful, chickie. Just as a warnin' to anybody musclin' in on de Boss's territory." he purred and stepped forward again, followed by the chuckling members of his gang. Timmy moved ahead of Victoria, studying them with a frown.

"You guys look familiar. Have we met before?" he called out to them in a puzzled tone.

"Yo, 'Tonio! Dat's the guy Jerry tried to off in dat cemetery!" one of the thugs exclaimed in sudden shock, "Da one what got up after a whole clip went in 'im!" The brunet immediately took up a stance, murmuring a wish for his Thunder Scepter to drop into his hands, startling everyone around him. "Oi! Dis palooka's a regular Houdini!"

"You guys are the same bunch of freaks that mugged Victoria in the Dimmsdale cemetery?" Timmy yelled angrily, "What the heck are you doing here? Trying to finish the job?"

"Hey, man, the lady was just a bonus." another of the gang members pointed out, "We was hired by the Boss to take out that kid's grave. Miss Money got in the way, tha's all." Victoria and the babysitters all glared at him angrily, the Others hissing in sudden fury.

"You were there to destroy Timmy Turner's gravestone? You bastards!" Victoria spat at them, "I oughtta rip you all new holes in your asses!" She glared at the brunet by her. "Okay, twerp, this is your battlefield now. I've held 'em off long enough myself." she added in a low, harsh tone. Timothy looked back at her in alarm as the carrot-top dropped to one knee, using her swords to hold herself up. She breathed heavily, head hanging down with her hair limp and loose from its bun, her clothes torn and soiled from a previous scuffle. Why hadn't anyone noticed her condition?

"Vicky!" Timmy exclaimed in shock and looked over at the young Goth in the group, "Tootie! Get Vicky back with the other girls and heal her!" He turned back to the group of thugs, holding the scepter threateningly. The rest of the group fell in beside him as Tootie hurried to help her sister move back towards the other babysitters.

_"Mana around me, mend this broken form! Cure!"_ she whispered once the woman was sitting by the group of huddled babysitters. Victoria lifted her head, gave Tootie a faintly surprised look, then managed a smile before closing her eyes and sagging tiredly against the battered van. "Vicky!" Tootie cried fearfully as the girls clustered around them.

"She fainted? She actually fainted?" one of the babysitters remarked in disbelief, "I thought Icky Vicky couldn't get taken out by anything, but that beating she took must have been more than she could handle." The little Goth blinked at her and the babysitter shrugged, still with a baffled look on her face. "When we all pulled up in the van, we heard some guy yelling about how we weren't going away, so then he told those guys over there to bust up the van with us inside." the girl told her, "Vicky told us to run for it and she jumped out at the guys with a pair of swords she had stashed in the front. I never thought she'd actually do anything to keep us safe."

"Big Sis..." Tootie murmured and listened to the tinkling sound of Romi in her earring disguise, "I wish Vicky's clothes were all fixed up." There was the sound of the wand being waved, then a sudden noise as the wish was blocked. Startled, Tootie lifted her fingers to her ear. "Romi?" she asked softly, "What happened? Why couldn't you grant the wish?"

"Da Rules... It got blocked by Da Rules." the fairy returned in quiet confusion, "I... I don't understand. There's no reason for your sister to be immune to wishes."

Lining up before the broken van and the frightened babysitters, the Others advanced on the approaching gang of thugs. Even though only Timmy was armed with a weapon of sorts, the other teens weren't about to back away from the impending scuffle. The brunet found himself watching Chester in confusion as the blonde glanced at each member of the Others and made several quick motions with his hands. The boys each nodded curtly at the signs and shifted places around Timmy and Trixie.

"Wha-? What are you-?" Timmy blurted out in surprise as Chester darted before him and charged ahead with a yell, slamming his shoulder into the first thug.

"Charge!" Sanjay whooped and rushed forward, snatching at the chain being wielded by another of the gang members. Elmer barreled forward, tackling a third thug and catching him off guard with A.J. hurling out several of the metallic boomerangs he'd designed for the magitech armor. Trixie yelped in alarm and darted after the group, jumping into a kick that toppled over the same burly man Chester had slammed into.

"Ugh! Idiots!" Timmy growled, sweeping the Thunder Scepter out to drive several of the thugs back from the crowd of girls behind them. Sirens screamed in the air and visions of police cars and news vans filling the street with cameras and people asking too many questions jumped into his mind. Couldn't have that, so wrap things up quick. "Guys! We're gonna have company in a bit! Get back here!" he yelled out and focused on conjuring up a spell to scare the thugs away.

"Boss! These kids are gettin' on our nerves! Do something to help us out, yo!" one of the ruffians yelled, covering his head as he dashed away from Elmer's charging. A shadowy figure stepped out of the darkness of the nearby alley, frowning.

"Utterly pathetic. I paid good money for this?" Remy grumbled, "I gave you three very simple orders; destroy Turner's tombstone, get rid of these stupid babysitters interfering with my plans, and get that sample of DNA. And you bumble in every single one!" He held out a hand, infuriated. "Juandissimo! I wish that van and those blasted girls were all thrown out of Dimmsdale!" he declared. The peacock beside him fluffed up its feathers in irritation.

"_Mi amigo_, I've told you already! I can't grant that wish! It's blocked by El Rules!" the disguised fairy yelled back.

"And you give no explanation why!" Remy shrieked.

"I don't **know** why! The wish is blocked; that's all I know!"

"I wish those thugs surrounded Timothy, then!" the teen millionaire declared loudly and Juandissimo waved his wand. In a burst of purple smoke, the gang were whisked away from the S-List beating up on them and dropped around the young immortal still piecing together a spell. Timmy dropped the mana for it, looking around himself in alarm. "The sample, you brainless brutes!" Remy screamed at them, "Get the sample!"

"Crud!" the brunet yelped and ducked the clashing of the thugs as they dove for him. Snatching the iPod from his neck, Timmy hurled it away from himself. "Stay away from me!" he called out and held up an arm to shield himself as he scrambled away from the thugs, "Wanda! Get out there!"

"But the other girls...! And the police and news crews...!" the disguised fairy cried fearfully.

"It's either you or Cosmo will do something stupid and ruin our cover!" Timmy hissed and yelled painfully as the thugs jumped for him and managed to pin the teen to the street. Piling quickly on top of them were the rest of the S-List kids, kicking and punching and yelling furiously for them to get off of the boy. The watch vanished from his wrist and a pink peacock flew into the area, calling out to the disguised fairy at Remy's side. Timmy struggled to get free, wincing as he felt bones beginning to crack under the weight of so many people on him.

"Off! Get off! Hey! Beat it!" Chester's voice yelled out. The sirens were getting louder, even through the mass of bodies. Not much time before all hell broke loose. Shutting his eyes, Timmy focused on bringing up the Light orb close to him, altering the Light mana to Fire mana instead. In seconds, the men were scrambling to get off of the sphere of flames that burst into existence between them and the teen. Team Turner jumped back in surprise as the thugs flailed about the scene, trying to put flames out as Timmy sat up, wheezing painfully. He glanced around, trying to find his fairies. Wanda was having issues with Juandissimo; the two seemed to be having a shouting match about something and Remy kept trying to chase her away with little success. But where did Cosmo vanish off to?

"The cops are here! Run for it!" the thug known as 'Tonio yelled and the gang scattered, vanishing into alleys as they nursed injuries and burns from the team's attacks. Remy looked down the street, clenching his teeth at the sight of the police cars pulling up to the office building with Chet Ubetcha's news van in hot pursuit.

"Bloody hell!" he growled and grabbed his fairy godfather by the neck, "Let's get out of here!" Juandissimo squawked in surprise, flapping wildly as he tried to keep up with the blonde making a mad dash for Timmy.

"Look out!" A.J. cried in alarm. The brunet looked up at him, startled, then yelled in pain again as Remy raced by and grabbed at his head, yanking him back and shoving him onto the street.

"Ow! What the heck's the matter with you?" Timmy snapped, both hands flying up to his head as he blinked back tears. It felt as though the blonde had tried to drag his scalp off by his hair!

"Juandissimo! I wish we were home!" Remy yelled out, running as fast as he could from the group. The peacock squawked frantically, wings flapping madly. In a large blast of purple magic smoke, the two of them vanished, leaving the S-List to gather around Timmy, helping him up as officers swarmed around them, demanding that they break up and answer questions. Wanda poofed back into her watch guise, thankful for the chaos hiding her transformation. Timmy gasped painfully, then blinked as the iPod returned to its place around his neck.

"Cosmo... where were you?" he breathed weakly, then focused on healing himself. The iPod twitched over his heart.

"Smelling flowers." the fairy whispered and fell silent as an officer walked up to Timmy and began questioning him on what had taken place.

.

It took an hour or so before the police and Chet had all the information they cared to collect for the time being. Cards were passed around, warnings were issued and requests to check in if anything more came to mind were added as the crowd began to disperse. The babysitters accepted offers to be taken to a local hospital to be looked after, though Victoria declined the same offer once she had woken up. She did demand that the cops put extra effort in finding the thugs, pointing out that they could not be Dimmsdale natives if they had no qualms over demolishing a van that bore the Heart of Dimmsdale's title. The group set to work helping her assess the damage to the van and figuring out what had happened.

"I was picking up the girls from some of their clients and bringing them back here to get their next set of kids to deal with." Victoria remarked grouchily as she watched Chester and A.J. pry open the dented doors to the van to look inside, "Some jerk was yelling his head off about how we weren't disappearing and junk. I'm guessing it was that Remy freak; he'd been yelling 'I wish they were out of the city' or something."

"Inside looks okay. It's the outside that's trashed." Chester finally sighed, shaking his head at the broken windows and scarred black paint.

"So when we didn't vanish, he sicced that bunch of apes on the van and they started trashing it while we were all still inside." Victoria went on, watching the windshield buckle under and collapse into the driver's and passenger seats, "I wasn't gonna have that, so I told the girls to get out while I dealt with 'em. Between taking names and keeping most of the bozos off my girls, well, I picked up a bruise or two there." She brushed dirt off of her black shirt, sniffing disdainfully. "That brat also tried wishing the girls and me into a sleep, but that didn't work either."

"Why not?" Tootie asked, puzzled. Victoria shrugged.

"Dunno. He flew off his handle about it. Something about a bunch of rules blocking his wish." she returned and looked over at Timmy as he stood there, rubbing his head. "Hey, twerp! How you doin'?"

"What was he yelling about when he said 'sample'?" he questioned in confusion. He blinked and looked up at the carrot-top. "Oh me? I'm okay. Picked up some burns and I think I broke my ribs, but I'm fine. _Cure_ comes in pretty handy in tight spots." he answered once he realized she'd been talking to him. A.J. stepped back from the van, looking up at it thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin.

"I don't get it. Why didn't Remy's wishes work on the van and the babysitters? They weren't equipped with nullifiers. We would have known that if Timothy or Tootie got sick." he remarked. He tilted his head, thinking aloud. "What protected the van and the girls from Remy's wishes if there wasn't a nullifier in this area?" he mused and looked over at Victoria. The woman stood there, scowling as she tried cleaning herself off. She was dressed in what she called the work uniform for the charity babysitters; a black shirt and blue jeans. The shirt had the name of the business written on it in white letters, and embroidered underneath that were the words 'Dedicated to the Heart of Dimmsdale'. A.J. turned back to the van and studied it. It, too, was solid black in color, with white letters proclaiming it to be Victoria's Charity Babysitters, the same dedication painted on its sides.

From what A.J. knew of Da Rules and his own experiences in witnessing wishes at work, fairy magic could not affect anything that had a direct connection to Timmy Turner, Timothy Neogene, or the title Heart of Dimmsdale, their names and their likenesses. To make a wish involving Timmy or any of the other recognized teens and titles, a godchild had to make sure there was at least one degree of separation. A direct wish on Timmy, Timothy, and whatever was tied to them was immediately canceled. But Timmy had nothing to do with the Charity Babysitters other than his title being painted on the van and sewn on the uniforms. Timothy didn't put those there, either, so he technically didn't have a direct connection to them.

And yet Remy couldn't wish them away.

Could it be possible that putting Timmy's name or title on something placed an object or person under the same protection that Timmy had? If so, then maybe by putting Timmy's name on the magitech suits, the armors would also gain immunity from Remy's wishes?

"That's it!" A.J. yelled in shock once he realized what he had just asked himself. The group looked at him, puzzled by his outburst. "That's it! I know how to protect the armors!" he exclaimed, "We put Timmy's name on them!"

"What?" Timothy asked incredulously, "What the heck is that gonna do? The rules of Dimmsdale say that anything with Timmy Turner's name on it can't be damaged or destroyed, but the magitech armor is already constructed to prevent damage." He waved at the street where the fight had taken place. "We need to protect them from wishes."

"But that's how we do it!" A.J. explained, "Wishes can't affect Timmy Turner and anything connected to him, right? If we put his name on something, then they get that protection too! Look at the van! Look at Victoria's shirt! Remy couldn't wish them away, and there's why!" The teens blinked and looked first at the van, reading the words, then at Victoria's black top, reading those same words. "Our magitech armor is also black, but they don't have anything relating to Timmy Turner, Timothy Neogene or the Heart of Dimmsdale on them! So they can get wished away!"

"Oh! That's why my wish to have Vicky's clothes be fixed didn't work!" Tootie exclaimed in understanding, "It had the words 'Heart of Dimmsdale' on it and Da Rules block wishes that directly affect it!"

"So to protect ourselves from Remy's wishes, we should put Timmy's name on the armor we wear?" Trixie questioned and furrowed her eyebrows together delicately, "But then that means we won't be able to use wishes on ourselves. The only one who can make wishes to do anything to us would be..." All eyes turned to Timothy and he blinked at them before letting his face fall.

"Oh crud." he sighed and shook his head, "I'm telling you right now. I'm not gonna hang around a bunch of teenagers wearing that kid's name on 'em."

"How about the Heart of Dimmsdale?" Elmer asked, "It's his title, not his name."

"Only if you can put it on there without using words. Don't advertise him to Remy or he'll put it together in his head."

"How about a symbol that represents Heart of Dimmsdale?" Trixie remarked helpfully. Timothy opened his mouth, paused before a sound came out, then lifted a finger in sudden thought.

"Let me call somebody about that." he remarked and waved to the group before running off, "Talk to you tomorrow!"

"Hey, who's gonna fix the van? We can't wish it back to normal." Chester asked and the group sighed collectively. "Okay, then who's gonna tell Genis we need a new van?" the blonde grumbled.

"Let's draw straws." A.J. sighed, pulling his hand down his face.

* * *

As far as Timmy figured, the Ghost Zone as a whole counted as being out of range for Cousin Danny's cell phone. The fact that three re-dials didn't patch him through didn't worry him at all. But Sam acting edgy when he tried her number did worry him a bit. He started by asking cautiously what was going on.

_"Nothing, nothing. What do you need? You want to talk to **Daniel**?"_ Sam asked.

"Uh... maybe later. I need some help with something. That story about the symbol on his costume; is it true you made that and got it to stick to him?" the brunet asked.

_"Er... yeah. Why?"_

"A.J. figured out that putting my name on anything protects it from wishes that aren't granted by Cosmo and Wanda. But, I don't want them running around with my name on their outfits. It's too much of a giveaway to Remy about Da Rules and who I am." Timmy explained, "So can I get you or Cousin Danny to design a symbol that I can claim as the likeness for 'Heart of Dimmsdale' so it falls under the immunity rule?"

_"Uh, yeah, sure. How soon do you need it?"_

"ASAP. Now that Vicky's muscling out Jeanie, I have time to get started on putting together an attack on the next Spire and we need those suits for the server overload." the brunet told her and frowned, "Sam, is something up with Cousin Danny?"

_"Um. Look, this isn't the best time to be talking about... private stuff. Just hold off on calling Danny for about... I think two weeks will do."_ the Goth returned quietly, _"The place he tends to go to when dealing with rogues kinda decided to keep our phantom friend for a while. Jazz, Tucker and I are having to deal with our own problems, so we won't be able to help you for a while."_

"Okay, okay. Backing off." Timmy muttered, "But if it's anything I can help with, lemme know, 'kay? I might not have Cousin Danny's skills, but I can still pull a punch here or there or just act as support."

_"No. You stay where you are. Dimmsdale needs you more than we do. Don't worry 'bout us. Between Danny Fenton's ghost hunting gear and us junior hunters, Danny Phantom will be fine."_ Sam returned evenly, _"I'll design the symbol for you. It'll be in your e-mail when it's done. Check it now and then."_

"All right. Thanks, Sam. And good luck finding Phantom. When everything settles, I wanna know how a ghost gets stuck in the Ghost Zone." Timmy sighed, "Not sure if it'll make for good blackmail or just serve as warning for all us 'special' dudes." He closed up the cell phone and sat back in bed, frowning in thought. This wasn't good. If Danny couldn't be available to take out the nullifiers easily in the next Spire assault, who could fill in for the power attacker and still be immune to the nullifiers?


	9. Chapter 9

9

Crocker toyed with the pieces of technology from the device that had intrigued him for so long. The programming for the control units was nearly complete and it was only a matter of time before the units themselves would be built at each of the Dark Spires. He smiled as he played with the bits of hardware on his desk, then looked up as an opening slid aside in the wall of his lair, allowing a fairy capture unit to hover in with a small box in its net. He lifted an eyebrow at it, pulling it free and sitting back down at his workstation. He had only been half-joking when he told Remy to retrieve a sample of the new Timmy's DNA for research. To think that he actually went and attempted it; which of the two of them was the true 'crazy one'?

He opened the box almost reverently, and allowed a smile to spread over his face slowly as it was revealed to contain several strands of hair piled neatly on the velvety lining. The teacher delicately stroked his fingertip against the strands. Soft and fine, and a shade of brown that seemed faintly familiar.

"Let's find out what magic you're using, New Timmy." Crocker remarked and placed the hairs into a containment unit at his workstation. He turned to his keyboard and began tapping in commands, bringing several programs and devices to work on scanning the strands. As they ran, he sat back in his chair, tapping his fingertips together.

In another few weeks every Dark Spire in Dimmsdale would have a set of control units to take over the job of governing a squadron of anti-magic units. The server system would only be bothered by the squadrons if they were requesting data that the control units couldn't supply, or if they successfully captured a fairy and needed to report it to Master Control through their respective Spire. Or, Crocker added as an afterthought, the control units themselves were destroyed, but the brunet had stopped destroying other units once he stumbled on the servers' weakness, save for nullifiers and the random destroyer or capture units that got too close to one of them.

He watched the screen working, then thought over what reports came in from various investigation teams. First were the results of the scans and tests on the green substance found at the site of the reconstruction of Spire Seven. It was something called ectoplasm, a form of energy used by ghosts to stay 'alive' and use all manners of powers. It was matched to samples and test results found in a database operated by a family in another part of the country, and it even touched off of a file in that database. Crocker already had his suspicions on what the file would be named, and wasn't entirely surprised to receive a copy of it with the words 'Danny Phantom' printed all along the label.

He was expected to do something about it. Really, what did these people think he was? Crocker specialized in fairies, not ghosts. They should have hired that family of ghost hunters to deal with the spook. But apparently ghosts couldn't handle anything that was used to make the black granite armor of the Dark Spires, granite that Remy had made sure to oversee before installation and construction, so as long as the walls had that granite, things should turn out fine.

The results of the investigation of Spire Five's destruction came in. A majority of the units destroyed there had been sliced into by some strange cutting edge that no one could quite figure out. The edges were too smooth to have been a blade and the quickly made curves indicated that a laser wasn't involved. Blades would have left chips and nicks in the metal, and no laser in current development had the ability to make such smooth curves in such a short time frame. The investigation team continued working on theories as to what caused it. There was also a vast crater that hadn't been gouged out by some random falling equipment, and looked as though it had been hit by a high-impact explosive. At one point, the team had found what appeared to be a large bloodstain but the rain had destroyed most of it and not enough evidence was left to help them identify where it came from.

Bribes were quietly going out to kill the stories of alien invaders in Dimmsdale, and there was much covering up being done at the building where the fairy capture units had crashed through in their dash for the fairy whose DNA was in his records. That fairy had never been recovered, despite the heightened alerts at the other Spires. They still reported that it would move about within the region, but it disappeared at random intervals, vanishing into the areas where the Spires had been destroyed. Ah, well. So he would have to wait a touch longer for the ultimate wish to be granted. That was fine with him. Crocker wanted to have his final absolution first, face the new Timmy and receive his judgment before unleashing the fairy magic that would resurrect the Heart of Dimmsdale and save the city from an eternity of misery.

The computer beeped at him and Crocker looked up to study the results of the scans and figure out what magic was being used against him. He frowned after a moment, cleaned his glasses, then studied them again. Another moment and he rubbed at his eyes. Yet another and he ordered the programs to rescan the strands of hair. He waited and watched the entire proceedings this time to be sure no errors cropped up. None did and yet the results came back the same, baffling him.

"This can't be right." Crocker muttered and glared at the strands of hair in the containment unit, "These must have been contaminated!" And yet the results remained on the screen, unerring and damnable. The retired teacher sat back in his chair, gazing up at the markers and symbols on the monitor with an annoyed expression that faded to begrudging acceptance. It would explain a lot, this new truth he discovered.

Why the boy seemed to escape Death so easily; why he used magic so easily; why he looked so faintly familiar and comforting; why Remy should have another reason to despise this boy; why fairies would be willing to fight for him, die for him; why he was affected by nullifiers; why he sought out help from children and angels and ghosts. This explained it all.

He brought up another file, compared the signatures, blinked in surprise, then sat back with a toothy smile.

Oh, yes, **that** explained it all perfectly. He was happy with this new knowledge. When the day of absolution came, he would have all the power he needed to resurrect Timmy Turner. And he would have the new Timmy to thank for it.

.

On Remy's end, testing and tracing the strands of hair was going to take longer. Crocker had absconded with a majority of the best technologies he developed for his own personal use and all the boy millionaire had to work with was standard procedures and machines. He did, however, find to his pleasant surprise that he had been able to wish the delivery of the strands of hair to a genetics lab without much fuss from Juandissimo. So there was a catch to the boy's immunities. That may be useful later.

The results would come back to him in a couple of days. Fine. He'd just deal with school the rest of that time.

* * *

Oberon High~

"A.J., what is so fascinating about your program this time that you have to have your nose touch the screen?" Timmy grumbled from where he lay on the grass of the school yard during lunch. The S-List, having lost their original gathering spot of the 'bench on the fringe' to a new set of outcasts, had decided to convene under the tree not far from it, the same tree Timmy himself sat under when choosing not to associate himself with either the Populars or the Others.

Gathered all around in the shade of the tall oak, the teens alternated between eating lunch and studying the screen of the laptop A.J. babied to no end. Even Tootie was jostling for position to see what was happening. Timmy, having no interest in something that continuously recreated his fatal plunge from the jungle gym for all the world to see, flopped onto the grass away from them and let his mind drift on several problems that he sorely wanted to solve.

He wanted to know what was happening with his cousin in Amity Park. It wasn't fair that he kept calling Cousin Danny to help him with the fight against the Spires and then be left out of the loop when there was a chance he could return the help. He wanted to get back to Dimmsdale Elementary and gain entry to the Crocker Cave. All of Crocker's old data and inventions were in there and could be of great help to them in figuring out how to destroy the Dark Spires more easily. And even better was the fact that the Fairy Portal was down there, easy access to Fairy World so there could be a possibility of sneaking Cosmo and Wanda back there to recover their own wands.

Or he could use it to see where Anti-Cosmo went after he poofed off in that mock indignation.

Then there was the matter of trying to figure out what the heck Remy was thinking when he yelled out about getting a 'sample', especially when he ran by and yanked on the top of his head. Which was still somewhat sore but then _Cure_ didn't fix everything he wanted it to, so oh well. The most the blonde would have gotten was strands of his hair. What good would that do?

"Based on the answers I got from you about Francis's basement and the recreated jungle gym in there, I'm adding in new variables to the program." A.J. returned seriously, "You said the room felt like it was spinning even though nothing was really moving."

"I just ate. Do we really have to go into that?" the brunet sighed, toying with the fairies in their squirrel forms, sending them both tumbling along the grass in giggles.

"I ran a different simulation last night on my personal lab computer. The only way I can see that the sensation of motion could take place in the way you felt and saw it is if one large central focus was moving and creating that sensation." the African-American remarked smartly.

"Too many big words. Look, you made Cosmo pass out." Timmy grumbled and poked at the green squirrel's belly to get him to sit back up.

"Something that took up most of the focus of the room was moving, and because it moved it felt like everything else was moving with it, even though it was the only thing moving." A.J. tried again. He ducked a small fireball that flew over his head. "Hey!"

"Smaller words, pal, or the next one becomes a homing fireball."

"That wasn't nice, Sport." Wanda scolded her godchild and Timmy only huffed in response.

"It wasn't nice to keep talking about something that makes me want to puke. I'm trying to get my hands on an emblem and Crocker's old files and all anyone wants to blab about is that stupid jungle gym and that stupid fall." he grumbled.

"What I was trying to get across is that there was one big thing that kept moving around, but your brain didn't see it as moving because it thinks that something like that can't move." A.J. tried a third time, "That thing was the jungle gym itself. My theory is that the rebuilt jungle gym was moving on an axis of its own and because none of us are of the mind to believe that a big, two-ton structure of metal can move on its own, then we are forced to think that the area around it is moving. Even though it's not." He eyed the brunet warily. "Is that small enough?" he asked in suspicion.

"Are you barbecued now?"

"Fine. Based on that, I've entered the variables into my simulation to render scenarios that could occur if the jungle gym was capable of independent motion."

"That's it! _Flagrare-!_"

"Will you knock that off?" the pink-haired fairy yelled, tossing her wand at her godchild's head, "Take this seriously! We don't have time for you to throw another tantrum over this!" She looked over at A.J. "Go ahead. What have you discovered so far?"

"Well, I've run a few simulations where I had the jungle gym be moved by various influences. Earthquakes, powerful gusts of wind... but none of them produced the right results." A.J. went on in a puzzled tone, "On top of that, I don't remember anything like that happening the day Timmy fell. So how could the jungle gym move without anyone seeing it or realizing it?"

The group studied the screen, thinking that over. It was a puzzle, and one that seemed so close to being solved, yet there was still a piece missing. Chester sighed and sat back against the tree trunk, annoyed.

"Man, just a little bit more info and we'd have this figured out!" he complained, "How do we get the jungle gym to spin without it being noticed?" A.J. lifted his head from the laptop and looked at him, confused.

"Spin?" he echoed dumbly.

"Yes, spin. I said the room felt like it was spinning, not shaking or rattling or anything." Timmy grumbled and twirled a finger in the air, "Spinning. Like a top. Like the jungle gym was a merry-go-round in slow motion." The super-genius tilted his head thoughtfully.

"Hadn't thought of that. It doesn't make sense, though. A jungle gym spinning like a merry-go-round? It's not built to move like that." he murmured in confusion, "It's scientifically impossible."

"You said that about Timmy's death and it happened anyway." Sanjay pointed out, "Input the variables! Let us test them and see if a spinning jungle gym is to blame!" A.J. sighed and rolled his eyes, then began tapping at the laptop again.

"Let's start with something slow. Say, a quarter-inch turn to the left every three seconds." he reported and shook his head, "This is insanity. Jungle gyms aren't designed to spin. They're landlocked, rigid constructs." Timmy sighed and rolled onto his back, gazing up at the clouds. It was insanity all right... insanity that these guys kept insisting on rewriting history. He sat up after a moment and looked around the school yard, checking to see where Remy could be. As usual, he sat at the Populars' table, looking smugly at him. Timmy blinked, puzzled. Was that guy actually making eye contact with him? What was up with that? And why was he smiling so hugely?

"A sample. He wanted a sample and ran off with strands of my hair." he mused and glanced over at the fairy couple, "Hey, guys. You don't think Remy was after a sample of my hair, do you? What would that give him?" Wanda and Cosmo looked up at him worriedly, clutching acorns in their little paws.

"A sample of hair? That's not good. Crocker's got a sample of Cosmo's hair and that's how he got the anti-magic units to lock onto him. They hunt for his DNA." Wanda told him, "If Remy's got a bit of your hair, he can use that same technology to find you anywhere you go!" She squeaked in fright, dropping the nut as her paws flew up to her face, eyes wide. "No! Your DNA! Dead or alive, your DNA is the same it's always been! If he gets it traced, he'll find out who you are!" she exclaimed in horror.

"Then I wish I had those strands of hair back!" Timmy blurted out, "We can't let him discover who I am! He'll tell the world and we'll be done for! You, me, Caleb and Danny!" The two fairies lifted their wands, then watched them fall limp in alarm.

"That's not a good sign." Cosmo remarked inanely, lowering his wand to study it, "I thought we had these fixed."

"The strands are either in a nullification zone or they're already being processed." Wanda muttered, "In any case, a wish can't touch them now that they're out of range of our magic." Timmy groaned despairingly.

"Ah, just my luck. All of this blows up because of..." he paused suddenly, blinking in realization, "Luck? Hey, that could work. If fairy magic can't reach the strands, could an anti-fairy's black magic work?" The fairy couple looked at each other, then gave him a wary expression.

"What are you thinking, Sport?" Wanda asked in a low tone, "You can't possibly be considering using bad luck to get rid of that DNA evidence." Timmy tapped at his teeth thoughtfully.

"You're right. I can't. I don't think there's a way for me to work out how it would be bad luck for me to destroy those strands so that an anti-fairy can grant it without breaking one of their own rules." he muttered and looked over at Remy again. "But if I got Remy to trigger the bad luck, then that would do it for sure." He glanced over at the group of teens staring at the screen of A.J.'s laptop, rolled his eyes and returned to his thoughts. "Okay, now to explain this to Anti-Cosmo, as he's the only guy free to cause bad luck. I wish I had a mirror and a rock." The fairies winced as they granted the wish. Placing the mirror on the grass, Timmy lifted the rock and dropped it onto the glass, shattering it within its frame.

The three of them waited for a moment, but no anti-poof appeared to signal the coming of the only free anti-fairy in the world. Timmy wished for a second mirror, placed it over the remnants of the first and dropped the rock on it again. Still, no response.

"This doesn't make sense. I'm triggering bad luck, but he's not showing up." he muttered. Wanda shrugged helplessly.

"Maybe it's because Anti-Cosmo made you immune to black magic as well. Looks like there's no way of contacting him. What a shame." she laughed forcefully, "We'll just have to find our own way of getting rid of that DNA."

"Weird." Timmy muttered and dug into his backpack for his cell phone, "Okay, I wish the shards of mirror were gone. Looks like I'll have to bug Caleb about this. He's not gonna be happy about it, though." He dialed the number for the android as the fairies whisked the broken mirrors away, then listened with disinterest while Caleb lectured him on interrupting important archiving. "Do it later. I need some help with something. Remy's run off with some strands of my hair and I think he's using it to trace my DNA for figuring out my identity. Can you do something to stop the process or destroy the results?"

_"For a Hero, you need saving more than the people you're supposed to protect. I should have held you back another year for more training rather than let you run back to Dimmsdale on this suicide mission of yours."_ Caleb sighed harshly, _"All right. Since we don't know exactly where your DNA is being processed, I'm going to have to carpet bomb the country with a wish of my own. It might take a while, so call me back in an hour or so. The Eternal Sword Pin takes up quite a bit of concentration to use."_ The android hung up immediately afterwards and Timmy sighed in relief. Caleb would take care of it; there was little he couldn't do when he put his ancient magic to work. Still, it would be nice if he could find a way to do things on his own, but magical alchemy didn't have that kind of power. At least, not as far as he knew.

There was a startled cry from the S-List and he looked over at them in concern. Had something happened?

"I don't believe it!" A.J. cried in shock, "It registered true! The scenario played out perfectly!" Chester clenched a fist, teeth ground together fiercely.

"I knew it! I knew there was no way he could have died just falling off that thing!" he exclaimed, "A.J.! You did it, Dude! You found out what caused his death!" He broke into a savage grin. "When we show this to the cops, they'll _have_ to reopen the case and investigate it!" he cheered and looked over at Timmy, "Timothy! We've got it! The jungle gym spun two inches to the right and that did it! That's what made Timmy break his neck on it!"

"You're all crazy." the brunet returned hollowly, staring at the group. A.J. shook his head, frowning as he continued tapping at the keyboard.

"What's crazy is what the simulation is saying. There's no way the jungle gym could move two inches precisely in time to connect with Timmy on his way down as a natural occurrence." he remarked evenly, "An outside influence had to make the structure move in coordination with Timmy's fall in order to have him break his neck and die from it. This was not a random shift in the jungle gym's position." The group blinked at him, puzzled.

"What does that mean, exactly?" Trixie asked, confused by the words.

"Yeah, what she said!" Timmy growled, folding his arms over his chest, "What **does** that mean? Spill it, A.J., and in plain English for those of us who **aren't** super-geniuses!" The technician of the group rubbed his head with a small sigh, gazing somberly down at the screen of his laptop.

"Listen carefully, okay, 'cause this is deep and I really don't like thinking about it too much." he began and took a deep breath to calm himself before explaining, "The simulation says that the jungle gym needed to move two inches to the right in concert with Timmy's fall in order to have the bar be in position to connect with his neck and cause his death. That means that it was timed to move specifically to hit Timmy." A.J. looked up at the startled group with a sorrowful expression. "This wasn't an accident, guys." he finally summed up, "Somebody set this up to have Timmy die when he was pushed from the top of the jungle gym. Someone timed the fall and did something to the jungle gym so that it would be in position to hit him."

"You mean-?" Tootie whispered and squeaked in horror, hands flying up to cover her mouth. Her eyes went wide, face paling, as she turned quickly to stare at the brunet. "No!" Timmy knelt before the S-List, still vaguely puzzled. His expression began to change as realization began dawning on him, going from perplexed to stunned.

"How cruel..." Trixie mumbled tearfully, "No... it can't be..."

"Bastards..." Chester hissed and shut his eyes tightly, slamming his fist against the tree trunk as tears began running down his face, "Bastards! It _wasn't_ an accident!"

"Chester! Wait!" Tootie blurted out in horror, holding out her hands to him, "Don't-!"

_"It wasn't an accident!"_ the blonde yelled in a fury, "Timmy Turner was **murdered** four years ago and we lost all our hopes and dreams because of some yellow-bellied killer!" The young Goth gasped and whipped her head around to take in the brunet's reaction to the brutal news.

Cosmo and Wanda had stiffened, eyes wide as the words sank into them. Timmy had gone completely white, hands lifting shakily to his neck.

"N-n-nnn..." his voice was failing him. Wanda finally uttered a cry of agony, throwing herself to the grass and burying her face into her arms as she muffled her screams. The teens jumped in alarm as her husband matched her cry with one of his own, a shriek of rage that startled the S-List as well as made everyone on the school yard dive for the closest bit of cover they could find. It was all that was needed for the brunet to release his own scream, a howl of anguish and pain that filled the air and sent Team Turner scrambling for cover behind the oak tree, watching him with shock and alarm.

The screams finally died away as the students of Oberon High raced back into the building, more to find an escape from the wails than to continue classes. The S-List crawled back into place, trembling from fright, as they continued to keep their eyes on the brunet that had displayed so much emotion towards their discovery. He remained kneeling on the grass, clutching his arms tightly as they were crossed over himself. His face was hidden by the shadows cast from his hair as he hung his head, sobbing as he shook from the horrible realizations. Wanda continued her own weeping, face buried in her limbs as she curled up miserably, tail wrapping her body protectively. Cosmo sat away from them, eyes shut tightly as he sank his teeth into his arm to keep from screaming again. Someone debated telling him he'd started bleeding, then decided not to incur a random blast of magic.

"That was... wow..." Chester breathed in amazement, "He must have really cared a lot about Timmy to react like _that_!" Tootie sighed harshly and stood up, holding her fists at her sides as she took on a determined expression.

"That's **not** why he cried." she declared firmly, "If you can figure out what caused Timmy's death, then you can figure out why Timothy cried like that." With that, she strode towards the huddled brunet and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "It's okay, Timmy." she whispered softly to him, "Go ahead and cry. We all have before, so it's only fair." He pulled away from her, climbing unsteadily to his feet as one hand instinctively reached for his neck, wrapping around it as a form of protection. He said nothing else, but turned and left the group, walking slowly away from them and off the campus with the fairies tagging after him.

"Where's he going?" A.J. asked in confusion, "Tootie, what did you mean by that?" The young Goth looked back at them with a scowl.

"You're the super-genius, A.J.! Figure it out! The connection between Timmy and Timothy! It's so obvious!" she shouted at them and ran off, "I'm going to make sure he's okay! Meet us at the cemetery when you get the idea!" Team Turner was left in a state of confusion. One mystery was solved, but they were given several more in its place. And the most worrying one of them was why their immortal leader had reacted like that.

"The connection between Timmy and Timothy..." Trixie mused softly, "What do we know about Timothy? About his life and death?"

"Not much. He doesn't talk about who he was when he was alive." Elmer returned, "And he doesn't explain anything about how he died."

"He has that same feeling as Timmy." Chester murmured strangely, "Whenever we hung out with Timmy, we had that feeling that things were gonna be okay in the end. That if we just hung on to happiness, things would be okay." He looked skyward. "And ever since we started hanging out with Timothy, we started getting that feeling again. That our dreams were still alive and that everything would be fine again."

"We know that he fell to his death, too. He told us on the phone." Trixie remarked, "So he died the same way Timmy did, sort of. Also, his records didn't get entered in online databases until August 20th, the same day Timmy's obituary ran in Dimmsdale. Remy himself said that his investigation into Timothy's past says that Timothy didn't exist until a few years ago."

"So? That doesn't mean anything... does it?" A.J. asked worriedly, "I mean, it's all just guessing, right?"

"There's something else." Trixie added with a slight frown, folding her arms over her chest, "Timothy told me a lot of times that he died in an accident and that I shouldn't bother with finding out his past. And did you see how he held his neck when he left? Like he was remembering an old injury... Timmy's neck broke and that's how he died."

"For a New York native, he knew quite a bit about Dimmsdale's streets and city layout." Sanjay added quietly and glanced over at the other boys, "You do not think that he is...?"

"Timothy's immune to fairy wishes, just like Timmy. And the Heart of Dimmsdale is immune to them, but that's just another name for Timmy. And the fairies say that Timothy is immune because Fairy World won't recognize him as alive when he shouldn't be, but they don't say why Timmy is immune." Elmer added in thoughtfully and blinked, "Wait a second. Isn't Timmy's full name Timothy Turner? It's on his tombstone, right?"

"Timothy Tiberius Turner, yeah. Two Timothys." A.J. agreed and blinked in surprise at what he had just said. "Two Timothys!"

"Who's got a picture of Timmy?" Chester demanded and Sanjay whipped out his wallet, flipping through it to pull out a photo.

"It is my best one, so do not get grime on it!" the Hindu warned as he handed it over. Chester held it out and the group all huddled around to study the color photo.

"Same hair, same eyes, and anyone notice his teeth are just a little too big whenever he's tapping on 'em? He does that when he's thinking about stuff too hard." the blonde asked as they peered at the image, "And he's been gung-ho on keeping us out of danger ever since we found out what he's been doing to help Dimmsdale. I think we all got had for the longest time."

"No way!" Trixie exclaimed as the group gasped in unison, "You mean to say that Timothy Neogene is actually _Timmy Turner_? But, we were all at his funeral! We saw him get buried!"

"He didn't have his hat when he got buried, and he's buddy-buddy with Caleb, a robot. Caleb builds other robots to help him out, right?" Chester pointed out grimly, "So what are the odds that the kid Dimmsdale buried was actually a robot copy of Timmy?"

"But then why is he wearing black all the time, and why does he get mad about the hat?" Elmer asked, pointing at the pink cap on his head.

"Because he doesn't want to give himself away. We made it law here that no one can wear the pink shirt and pink hat combination that Timmy always did, and he wasn't going to risk getting recognized in that outfit." A.J. returned and headed for the backpack left forgotten on the grass, "We know that Timmy had two hats in his whole life. He gave one to Elmer, which he still has, and he kept the other one 'cause he always wore it." He opened the backpack and dug through it, searching among the bottles and gadgets and books. "An inner pocket?" A.J. questioned and unzipped it. He uttered a small gasp and looked up at his friends in amazement. "Here it is!" he exclaimed and pulled out the pink hat that should have been buried with the boy so long ago, "Timmy kept the other hat the whole time! This is it! Proof that Timothy is Timmy!"

"Agh! And we just told him to his face that he'd been murdered!" Chester cried in horror, "No wonder he flipped out!"

"Oh my gosh! I kissed Timmy Turner on the mouth?" Trixie exclaimed suddenly, "_Yaaii!_ I told him everything about how I felt! He saw me in my nightgown!" Her face turned red as she screamed in embarrassment. "Now he thinks I'm a total _freeeaaak_!"

"What is she talking about?" Sanjay asked suspiciously, glaring at the raven-haired Popular as she shook her fists excitedly, "What does she mean by a kiss? You there! Miss Popular! What kiss are you speaking of?"

"Never mind that! Let's go! We gotta make sure Timmy's okay!" Chester yelled, racing for the path that the brunet had taken, "The last thing we need is for him to go nuclear on a Dark Spire all by himself 'cause he's gone crazy in the head!" Snatching up the backpack and hat, the remainder of the team ran after him, desperate to catch up with their friends.

* * *

Dimmsdale Cemetery~

Tootie and Romi stood by silently as they watched Timmy look down at his own grave, Cosmo and Wanda floating by him with tired expressions. None of them had spoken, not since they all shrieked their sorrows and outrage at Oberon. Tootie couldn't blame them; this was Dimmsdale, the self-proclaimed city of idiots. Though no one there could be counted on to get the big picture right away, it was well-known that the people were generally good-natured, with the worst crimes they ever dealt with being counterfeiting and burglaries. The concept of murder never entered their minds, and murder of a child was inconceivable to them.

Especially if that child was the Heart of Dimmsdale.

It was so bizarre, it bordered unnatural. Who could do such a thing? Who would be so cruel and evil as to willingly take the life of someone the city needed so much to survive?

"Why?" Timmy finally whispered softly and Tootie blinked up at him, startled that he spoke, "I was just an average kid that no one understood. Why did I deserve to be...?" He stopped, unable to bring himself to say the word. It was taboo in his mind; he'd never been exposed to something like that, so of course he'd cringe away from the idea of life being taken away. Even his spells, even in his darkest moments, he'd never taken someone's life. That was what kept him from obliterating Remy at the last Spire, that hatred of taking life away from others. It was too precious, something he didn't learn until it was too late for himself.

"We can find out. We'll find out who did it and make 'em pay." Tootie told him, "I'll wish the guy who did it to Mars!"

"Fairy magic can't be used to bring harm to a person." Romi scolded her, "It's against Da Rules!"

"So what about me makes it hard for people to decide whether they want me around or not?" Timmy asked with a sigh, "If people hated me enough to want me gone, they could have just said so. I would have wished myself to some other place." He glared at the small tombstone. "They didn't have to **kill** me to get rid of me!" he growled, "I would have left on my own! I did it before; I could have done it again!"

"It's not you, Timmy! I know it isn't!" Tootie blurted out, "You're the nicest, sweetest guy in Dimmsdale! No one could hate you enough to do that to you!" The brunet huffed disdainfully.

"I know of at least two people that would love to take responsibility for this." he shot back, folding his arms over his chest, "Well, now I know that I really **wasn't** wanted here when I was alive. I'm only good to this city as a dead kid." He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Once the rest of the Spires have fallen, I'm going back to New York. Thanks to A.J. and the Others, I have the proof that I don't belong here."

"But _this_ is your home! Here, where you were born!" Tootie exclaimed.

"Here, where I was _murdered_? Fat chance. I wanted to be home, but it's obvious I don't have one here anymore." the brunet grumbled and looked over at his fairy godparents, "Cosmo, Wanda, what are the chances of us starting fresh in New York once this is done with?"

"Pretty good." Wanda replied distractedly, "You're already established there as Timothy Neogene and Caleb's got several condos we can pick from as a new home."

"We can also just go back to Fairy World." Cosmo muttered, "None of us belong here." Wanda seemed to snap back to herself and frowned at her husband.

"We're _banished_, remember? That means we **can't** go to Fairy World!" she told him sternly. The green-haired fairy shook his head.

"I can take a deal for us." he returned, "We got a letter that says we can all go live in Fairy World again if I take a deal." He smiled slightly. "That'll be fun. A house in Fairy World for you and Timmy." Wanda gave him a suspicious look and he shrugged. "All I have to do is go back to the Fairy Army. It won't be so bad." he added and yelped painfully as his wife slapped him in the back of the head.

"No way! Not even for a chance to go back there with Timmy!" she snapped at him, "You idiot, you **know** they've been wanting to get their hands on you for ages! Don't give them what they want!"

"Owwie! I thought it would be fun for us!" Cosmo whimpered, rubbing his head, "And I wanted to eat at the Golden Crown again!" Timmy sighed and shook his head.

"Caleb tried to petition for you guys to be able to go back, too, and got the same deal. I think we should count out Fairy World and Dimmsdale both as places to live." he told the couple and looked down at the grave again, "Ingrates."

Tootie sighed helplessly, shaking her head, then blinked as she heard the voices of the Others calling out to them. She turned to watch them run up to the grave, puzzled by their excitement. Had they taken her advice and put their heads together to discover Timmy's secret? Timmy himself followed her gaze, head tilted in confusion as the group of teens ran straight for him.

"What in the world-?" he managed to get out before being tackled by Chester and A.J. The rest of the team piled on happily, chattering as they crushed him with hugs. "Will you get **off** of me? What's going on?" the brunet yelled out, "Come on! I barely got a full heal after that fight at the office building!"

"Dude! It's you!" Chester cheered, digging his knuckles into Timmy's head and mussing up his hair, "You had us all going for months, man! I wasn't sure whether to beat the crap outta ya for having us believe you were gone for all those years, or just hug ya and be glad you're still walking the planet! Guess which one I went for!"

"Ow, ow, ow!" Timmy yelped between hugs and digs, "Can you pick one that's less painful? And what are you _talking_ about?"

"Three cheers for the return of the Heart of Dimmsdale!" Sanjay whooped, waving his hands in the air excitedly. Elmer pulled the pink hat from his head and shoved it into his backpack with relief.

"Now I don't have to be so stressed out anymore." he sighed happily.

"You better explain to me why you didn't want me finding out how you died, Timmy." A.J. berated the brunet, "'Cause I don't want to have been awake for so many nights just for some empty answer! I've got lots of questions for you later, so be prepared for some heavy-duty interrogation!" Timmy stared at the group in shock, then quickly tore himself from them, stumbling back towards the grave.

"What? You _know_ who I am? Who told you?" he demanded in a mix of anger and disbelief.

"Nobody, Dude. We just put together a whole lotta puzzle pieces we didn't know we had and figured it out." Chester returned and grinned at him, "It's good to have you back, Timmy. You have no idea how much we missed you!"

"I have a pretty good one." the brunet growled back and pointed at the small tombstone, "And from the looks of things, _somebody_ didn't miss me at all! How else did I wind up getting carried off by the Grim Reaper?"

"Take it easy, Timmy; we just want to help you." Trixie told him, a worried expression on her face, "We're your friends, remember? I mean, I know I wasn't much of a friend to you before but..."

"But you want to be now that I've got power I didn't have as a living human being, right?" Timmy snapped angrily at her and slashed at the air with one arm, filling the space with mana orbs of different colors, "Now that I've got this ability to call up magic, I'm suddenly the coolest guy around, right? I should have known; I was useless to you all alive, but dead, I'm the greatest thing ever!"

"This wasn't the reunion I had in mind." Tootie sighed and the brunet turned on her next.

"**You** set this up, didn't you? Tootie, I told you over and over that I can't have anyone else know who I am! It's dangerous!" he yelled at her and threw up his hands in exasperation, "This is all just stupid! Do you all have **any** idea what could happen to me and Caleb and Danny if anyone else found out about me? And the fairies! They'll all get pulled back to Fairy World and any chance I had at doing good for the world gets ruined!" He sighed harshly and pulled his hand down over his face. "Great. Just great. Now I'm going to have to wipe your memories and get back on my original path." he grumbled, "Cosmo, Wanda! I wish-!" Chester held out his hands for peace, waving them excitedly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a second there, guy!" he blurted and held out his arms to the S-List, "What's wrong with letting us know who you are? We've been buds forever, Timmy; don't you trust us to keep your secret safe?" The blonde looked faintly hurt. "Did dying really change you that much? I mean, back at the Tower, when you threatened Sanjay, and at the Dark Spire, when you almost blew away Remy 'cause of me... the Timmy we all knew wouldn't have done that."

"The Timmy you knew was freaking _murdered_, remember?" the brunet shrieked back and flopped down onto the grass, folding his arms over his chest in a huff, "You don't get it at all! No one escapes Death unchanged! When Danny Phantom stole my soul away from Death and brought me back to life with it, it changed who I was, **what** I was! There's no going back for me ever!"

The group fell silent then, no one sure of what else to say. The fairy couple floated by him, waiting to hear if he was going to finish the wish or not. After a few minutes, the other teenagers all sat down in a small cluster near the brunet, gazing up at the clouds overhead. Trixie murmured to her pendant and Apollo poofed free, taking up a place on the grass by her as he began cleaning off his little sword. Tootie and Romi took up places on the ground as well, toying with blades of grass as though waiting for something to happen. Timmy watched them all, puzzled. Finally, he sighed in defeat and shook his head.

"What do you want from me?" he asked quietly.

"Nothing really. Just let us be friends again and help you free the city. That's what you came back here for, right?" Chester asked with a shrug. "We all want our hopes and dreams to come back, so this is the best way to do it."

"I'd like to ask forgiveness for all the stuff I did and didn't do when we were little." Trixie added in hesitantly, "I was the reason why you climbed the jungle gym, right? If it hadn't been for me, you would have been all right."

"Stop that. Maybe you were the reason for it back then." Timmy muttered, "That doesn't mean you have that same power over me now. You don't listen to what I say, so here we are now." He gave her a stern look. "Stop blaming yourself. I chose to climb it myself. It doesn't matter why I did it anymore."

"Will we keep our memories?" Sanjay asked. Timmy winced and sighed.

"Part of me says to erase them to keep myself safe; me and Cosmo and Wanda, and Caleb and Danny. But... part of me doesn't want to. Part of me wants you to know, because I still want to be normal." he murmured, "I still want to be able to go back to being Timmy Turner after all this, but I'm learning that I can't do that. But it would still be nice to have part of my past with me." He smiled sadly. "So I guess, yeah. You can keep them. We really can be Team Turner now." he finally decided.

"Will you take back the hat, Timmy, sir?" Elmer pleaded and the brunet laughed.

"No way! You keep that one, I already have my own!" he returned and sighed happily, "At least around you guys I can finally go back to my old clothes. Dressing up in black all the time gets on my nerves; it makes me feel weird."

"How about solving the mystery of how you got killed and who would want you dead?" A.J. asked seriously. The brunet shrugged at that.

"I'd like to know that myself. This is Dimmsdale; murders don't **happen** in Dimmsdale. That's something that goes on everywhere else. We're a special city." he remarked, "I'll leave that up to you 'cause, obviously, I don't know anything about what happened here after I died and before I was resurrected. You put the clues together, Sherlock."

"And the Spires?" Tootie pitched in and Timmy jumped up.

"Oh, yeah! I forgot to tell you guys that Sam's working on an emblem for us! Once it comes in, we'll declare it as the official insignia for the Heart of Dimmsdale!" he exclaimed brightly, "That will put it in Da Rules as having immunity against fairy wishes! Then we'll just attach the emblem to our magitech armor and attack the next Spire! Remy won't be able to do a thing to you guys while you're wearing them!"

"Our own fairies won't be able to help us either." Tootie pointed out dryly.

"Not directly at least. But I can have Cosmo and Wanda grant wishes for you if you need direct help. Otherwise, rely on your own strength and make wishes with one degree of separation." he returned and grinned. "Well, Team Turner, you know who I am and what's at stake! Are you still up for wrecking Remy's Dark Spires and stopping Crocker from stealing fairies?" The group jumped up with him, fists thrust into the air.

"Yeah!"


	10. Chapter 10

10

The S-List gathered in the Ivory Tower during lunch the next day, returning to the safety of its walls during school for the purpose of planning the next Spire attack. Sitting excitedly around the conference table, they toyed with small tokens on a large map of the fourth Spire they targeted, chasing one another on the paper in laughter. A sense of joy had fallen over them since the Others and Trixie Tang learned that their often moody and erratic team leader was none other than Timmy Turner, and their parents had been pleased, if not puzzled, by their return home with more genuine smiles and newfound hopes. Their happiness spread through the households, bringing a welcome relief from the gloom and misery that had taken a stranglehold on Dimmsdale for so long.

Caleb watched them from his place near the head of the table, mildly annoyed by their play and the fact that Turner himself had yet to arrive. Between having to keep close watch over a child immortal and the guardian of The Veil Between Life And Death, he wasn't getting much time to himself to go and explore the ruins of ancient civilizations around the world. And the travel bug was biting again.

"Don't rip that, okay? We need it to plot our paths around the Spire." he sighed. Trixie giggled and clasped her hands together, eyes shining happily.

"I can't believe it! I just still can't believe it! Timmy Turner, alive and well! And with so much power backing him in a quest to save Dimmsdale!" she exclaimed brightly, "We'll make the best couple! I know it! All I have to do is remind him how much he adores me and we'll be together!" Chester gave A.J. a glance, then rolled his eyes.

"Oh, here we go." he murmured as Tootie bristled across the table.

"You? No way! You're just after him for his magic and powers!" the young Goth yelled, shaking a fist at the older teen, "I saw him first! He's mine!"

"This is a drastic change from how girls used to treat him in the past." A.J. remarked, watching the arguing girls hurl words back and forth in a tennis match of verbal abuse.

"So then why does he still wish to date girls?" Sanjay muttered under his breath, sitting back in his chair with a pout. He glanced over at the stocky boy by him. "Elmer! Stupid boy! The hat!" he ordered, jabbing a finger at the empty space on the russet-haired boy's head where Timmy's pink cap usually sat.

"I don't have to wear it anymore. Timmy's back and he said he has his own hat." Elmer returned haughtily, arms folded over his chest.

"But we still need to cover for him and pretend he's gone!" Chester told him, "So put it back on!" Grumbling and complaining quietly, Elmer dug the cap out of his backpack and placed it on his head again. "Man, when's he gonna show up? He skipped the whole first half of school today and Remy's been laughing it up since yesterday." the blonde sighed harshly, "I wanted to walk up to him and turn his head inside out!" Before them, the girls got their fairy godparents involved, each touting themselves as 'the perfect girlfriend' for the late immortal.

"She _does_ have a point, Andromeda." Apollo remarked as Trixie preened before a hand mirror, making sure she still looked all right despite the yelling, "Timmy's records state that he's had a thing for Trixie since the day he laid eyes on her. It's the ultimate granted wish for the both of them if they got each other." Romi shook her head furiously.

"Absolutely not!" she shot back, "I'm sorry if this sounds rude or snobbish, but your godchild never gave Timothy the time of day when he was alive! At least _my_ godchild has Timothy's best interests at heart and would never spurn him!" The fairies began their own argument and the remainder of the team quietly shifted their seats a bit further away.

"Don't scratch the tile." Caleb warned and sighed, pulling his hand over his face, "Oh, what am I saying? No one pays attention to stuff like that and I'll just end up cleaning it out of boredom..." Trixie closed up her make-up kit and grinned smugly at Tootie.

"You know, you might as well just give up on him now, Little Miss Middle-School." she purred, "No matter what you say or do, I'm still gonna be the one to get Timothy's attention and heart. Who cares about a scrawny little thing like you..." She struck a lady-like pose that brought her to her full height and finished, "...when he can have someone like **me**? With all the curves that bring boys like him to me like so many drooling alley pups?" She laughed as the young Goth's face turned red in a mix of fury and embarrassment. "Talk all you want about the inside, Tootie-Fruitie, but to get through a fourteen-year-old boy's mind you have to have the **body** for it." the Asian went on with a smile, "And you look like you could iron your shirts _after_ you put them on!"

The door to the room slid open before Tootie could form a retort and the group looked towards it expectantly. Timmy stood in the doorway, puzzled as he looked around at them all. Dressed once more in the classic pink shirt and hat he had been known for as a youngster, he tilted his head and lifted an eyebrow in confusion.

"I heard yelling?" he finally said questioningly. Half the group sighed dreamily and Chester rolled his eyes again. A.J. merely grinned at the familiar outfit and Elmer promptly yanked the hat from his own head.

"I told you." he hissed out of the corner of his mouth towards Sanjay.

"It looks so much better on him anyway. A mere photo cannot capture the essence that is the one true Heart of Dimmsdale." the Hindu returned absently, a goofy smile on his face as his glasses fogged over.

"Missed the classic, Dude." Chester finally remarked and stood from his chair to wave at the rest of the teens, "We were just goofing around waitin' for ya." He rubbed his head sheepishly. "Oh, and sorry for takin' over the Others while you were gone. I mean, without you around, the gang was kinda being pushed around a lot more by the Populars..." Timmy waved a hand carelessly at the apology, heading for the head of the table.

"You did what you had to to keep everyone safe. That's cool with me." he returned and broke into a grin, "Thanks. It means a lot to me. I was kinda worried you would all suffer the most during... well, y'know." He held up a folder as the iPod and watch poofed back into the forms of Cosmo and Wanda. "The e-mail came in this morning; we have an official emblem for the Heart of Dimmsdale title!" he declared and set it down on the table for them to see. The group leaned forward to take in the print-out.

It looked, at first, like a large red heart. A second glance registered the fact that part of the center of the heart was missing, the shape of a capital 'T' cut into the color. Stranger still was that the letter had a second bar cutting through it as well, only half an inch below the first bar that comprised the letter. The group blinked at it, then up at Timmy.

"Well? What do you think?" he asked.

"Dude. It's a heart. A big, red heart." Chester remarked flatly, "With pieces cut out."

"It's very reminiscent of Danny Phantom's 'DP' insignia." Caleb added thoughtfully, "Did he draw this? Or Sam?"

"Sam did. Danny's in a bit of a bind right now." Timmy admitted worriedly, "She didn't say much but I know he's trapped in the Ghost Zone and can't get out. His cell phone isn't picking up my calls, but I just figured it was 'cause the Zone's out of range."

"Wish she'd called me about that." the android muttered irritably, "All right. So what exactly is the shape in the center of this thing?"

"A double 'T'. That's what the e-mail said." the brunet answered and blinked as Trixie waved her hand frantically.

"Ooh! I know! It stands for Trixie and Timothy!" she declared brightly and Tootie immediately shook both fists in the air.

"No! Timmy and Tootie! It's our initials of love!" the young Goth yelled. Timmy folded his arms over his chest, scowling.

"I **knew** I heard girls screaming." he grumbled and shook his head, "At least Veronica isn't involved." The android gave him a suspicious look and he quickly rubbed his head and forced a laugh. "Oh, nothing, nothing! Never mind me; just talkin' to myself! Had a weird dream and was just talkin' it away!" he chattered and cleared his throat. He pointed at the sheet. "Actually, the double 'T' is to represent my initials. Timmy Turner. The heart represents my title, Heart of Dimmsdale. So if they're together like that, then my name, title and the insignia are bound together in everyone's eyes." Timmy explained, "So that would put it under Da Rules as having immunity." Caleb picked up the sheet and studied it.

"Seems like it will work. Let me pitch it to the public and start up a foundation in your name as a smokescreen. Once the city recognizes this symbol as one for you, then fairies will have no choice but to do the same." the redhead decided, "As for that issue you wanted me to deal with... it's been resolved. There is no evidence of your DNA in any lab in the world, save for what wasn't recently obtained. Your old records remain to avoid suspicions, but the strands of hair stolen from you have been destroyed."

"Great. Okay, guys, there's a bit of a problem with the attack on the next Spire." Timmy told the group seriously, "When I called Sam about the problem of the emblem, she told me that we can't call on Danny Phantom for the next attack." The group uttered a collective yelp of shock.

"What? Why not?" Tootie cried, taken aback by the news.

"Did the ghost get busted or something?" Chester asked in curiosity. Timmy shook his head, a worried look on his face.

"No, nothing like that. I don't think." he answered in a puzzled tone, "She said that something had happened that got him trapped in the Ghost Zone. It's a place that most of the ghosts reside in and Danny's not really welcome there 'cause he keeps throwing ghosts that escape back in there." He shrugged helplessly. "So until he gets rescued by Sam, Jazz and Tucker, Team Phantom is out of the game."

"Is Danny Fenton helping?" Tootie asked and the brunet blinked.

"Uh... yeah..." he mumbled and shook his head, "He's not much for going into the Ghost Zone either, so he's probably just gonna work on this side of the gate. We can't call him 'cause of that." He waved at the map. "But that still leaves us with the problem of who can replace him and destroy the nullifiers while we overload the other units with data." he sighed. Team Turner puzzled over that in silence.

"We need someone who can get rid of nullifier units without being affected by them." A.J. mused softly.

"Someone like Danny Phantom, who can move quickly from unit to unit." Sanjay added, eyes closed in thought as he flicked the frames of his glasses. Tootie pushed her own up the bridge of her nose, then allowed them to slide down again.

"Someone who can destroy them one after another so they can't be made active again." Elmer muttered.

"Who else do we know can survive being near a nullifier, move around fast and totally demolish anything?" Chester asked in exasperation. Timmy and Caleb both jerked their heads up at the question, then looked at each other in realization.

"Anti-Cosmo!" they declared in unison.

"What?" Wanda growled, "You're not thinking of getting _him_ involved, are you, Timmy?" She wagged her wand at him warningly. "You can't trust him, Sport! He's an anti-fairy! Even if he promised never to use black magic on you, what's to stop him from using it on your friends?" she lectured and the brunet looked up at her determinedly.

"What's stopping him from keeping the promise not to hurt me?" he asked in return. The fairy godmother opened her mouth to answer, halted before she could and took on a concerned, though puzzled, expression.

"I still don't think it's a good idea." she finally said and looked over at her husband, "Right, Cosmo?" He floated there with a blank expression, sucking on one end of his wand. "Err... well..." Wanda faltered, "It's still a bad idea."

"It's a horrible idea! That guy's just gonna screw us all over for fun!" Apollo declared in agreement, "There's a **reason** why he's at the top of the Wanted list in Fairy World!"

"He's dangerous!" Romi blurted out as Tootie nodded eagerly, "What if your magic turns negative again?" Timmy stepped back, startled, as his fairy godparents turned on him and the rest of the group gasped in shock.

"How did you-?" the brunet asked, then frowned, "Tootie! You followed me? You wished yourself invisible and spied on me during those tests?"

"Negative magic? Timmy, have you been using black magic while we were gone?" Wanda yelled angrily, "Don't you know that's dangerous? Who taught you black magic to begin with? It certainly wasn't Caleb or the two of us!"

"Black magic is icky magic! It's the stuff anti-fairies use to cause bad luck for everybody! It works the same as our regular magic, only anti!" Cosmo pitched in, matching his wife's fury with his own, "How can you stoop that low?"

"It's not **my** fault! My body copied the magic signature Anti-Cosmo had and it turned my magic negative!" Timmy snapped back, "And for what it's worth, I didn't use a single spell the whole time I was turned 'anti', okay?"

"Except for conjuring stuff." Chester remarked and Timmy cringed at the next explosion from his godparents.

_"You promised not to conjure anything!"_ Wanda screamed in a rage, "We're your **fairy godparents**! If you need or want anything, _we're_ the ones who use magic to get it for you!"

"How could you that whole week you were with that Sophia brat?" the brunet shot back angrily, "I needed stuff during that week and since you guys weren't there for me, I had to make it myself!" He held out a hand towards them and the shimmer of mana appeared before his fingers before solidifying into a perfect little mirror. "I could have _made_ my own mirror and rock at school, but I wished them because I wanted to keep you guys happy and healthy!" he went on, "Excuse me for caring!"

"Don't call Sophia a brat!" Chester jumped in, standing up instantly at the words and scowling at the brunet.

"I can if I want to!" Timmy shot back, "She's a brat, brat, **brat** for being spoiled by all of you!"

"Of **course** we spoil her, you dumbass, she's your-!" Chester bit down on the words and sat back down suddenly, "Ah, forget it!"

"She's my what?" Timmy pressed on, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the blonde.

"I said to forget it!"

"Ugh, whatever." the brunet grumbled and threw up his hands, "We're getting way off track anyway." He glanced up at the mirror still floating in the air and snatched it down, shoving it behind his back. "The point is, we need someone to take out the nullifiers without being affected by them. Anti-Cosmo is perfectly immune because he's an anti-fairy, so we need to get in touch with him and see if he'll help us out."

"And why would he want to help us at all?" Trixie asked warily, "He said it himself; an anti-fairy won't do anything for anyone unless he gets something out of it for himself." Timmy shrugged and shook his head helplessly.

"It's just a feeling, but I think Anti-Cosmo made it his mission in life to make Remy as miserable as possible. Why, I don't know, but if we tell him that helping us destroy the Dark Spire is the best way to get Remy ticked off, that may do the trick." he returned. The team looked at each other, thought it over, then nodded begrudgingly at the brunet.

"I still don't like it, but majority rules." Wanda grumbled, hair badly disheveled from her earlier fit of anger. She filed her nails with her wand almost viciously, sparks of magic flying free as she glared at her godchild. "We'll go along with the plan for now, but we are going to have a _very_ long talk about black magic and conjuring when we get home."

"Yes, _Mom_." the teen muttered sarcastically, earning a smack to the head from the wand. Cosmo merely huffed in annoyance, then nodded.

"Just so long as he stays away from Wanda!" he declared.

"He will, Cosmo. Promise." Timmy sighed, rubbing his head, "So, can anyone trigger some bad luck to call him?" The group remained silent. "Anyone?"

"Dude, I was lucky the last time he gave me bad luck." Chester griped, "I was _actually_ wearing boxers that day! I don't want him dropping my pants again!"

"If I rip this hat one more time, Sanjay's gonna disembowel me with his plastic spork." Elmer whined and the Hindu shot him a glare.

"Not before I rip out your esophagus and strangle you with it first." he added scathingly.

"Trixie, Tootie? You have fairies that can weaken the effects of black magic. Why don't you trigger something?" Timmy asked of the girls.

"No way." Apollo growled, "If he points that wand of his at Trixie, I'm running my sword through his gut. Screw his black magic!"

"I don't know. Anti-Cosmo's scary." Romi whimpered, twirling her wand in her hands, "I don't think my fairy godparent training covered what to do when the anti-fairy you're facing is Anti-Cosmo! That's high-level stuff! I'm only mid-level!" Tootie sighed and reached into her backpack, digging through her possessions before retrieving an umbrella.

"I'll get him." she remarked and stuck her tongue out at Trixie as she lifted the umbrella over her head and clicked on a button. It swept open and unfolded the black fabric, casting her in a shade. "It's bad luck to open an umbrella indoors, right? This should get his attention." Tootie declared and smiled, "Huh, so this is what Sam meant by carry one around. Sunlight is too bright and hot when you're wearing dark colors. I'll have it open when daylight is too strong." The group waited for moment, then looked around warily.

"He's not here yet?" Romi murmured in confusion, looking around between her fingers, as she had pulled her hands up to her eyes at the sight of her godchild triggering bad luck. Timmy folded his arms and tilted his head, puzzled.

"It happened again. What's going on?" he murmured aloud, "Wanda, why isn't he showing up when Tootie triggered the bad luck and not me?" He frowned and tapped his teeth thoughtfully before speaking again. "It's been about three, four days since he took off..." he mused softly.

"Let me try." Trixie remarked after another minute passed with no anti-fairy, "Apollo, I wish I had a salt shaker." Her godfather grumbled under his breath but granted the wish. Trixie promptly flicked the side of it and watched the salt spill out in the tumble. The team looked around the room expectantly. Nothing. Timmy frowned deeper.

"Now I **know** something's up. Spilling salt is Anti-Cosmo's favorite bad luck trigger." he growled, "If he's not even showing up for **that**, then something must have either happened to him or he's actually ignoring us!" He turned to his friends. "Guys, let's see if we can't try this one more time, just to see if he's even awake or something! Everybody get a salt shaker!" he announced and watched as Tootie and Trixie wished enough for the group to pass around. "Now, on the count of three, knock over the shakers and spill the salt! One!"

Each teen studied their salt shaker intensely as they waited.

"Two!"

Caleb uttered a soft groan of exasperation. A waste of good salt and he'd have to clean it all up later.

"Three!" Timmy declared and the air was filled with the sounds of various crystal and black salt shakers tumbling across the table and scattering salt all over. A burst of pale blue smoke erupted over the mess and Anti-Cosmo dropped out of it, landing on the tabletop with a soft grunt. "Hah! Finally!" the brunet exclaimed in triumph.

"Blast it all. I thought I could ignore this one." the anti-fairy grumbled weakly, bat's wings flapping once, then going limp as if in protest. He sat up, dusted himself off and glared up at the teen. "Tell me, dearest Timothy, what exactly was going through your mind when you pulled this stupid little stunt? You already used up your favor and I'm not in the mood for giving you another."

"Why the heck were you ignoring me when I broke the mirrors?" the young immortal demanded.

"There's no point showing up when you're immune to bad luck."

"Then how about when Tootie and Trixie opened umbrellas indoors and spilled salt?"

"I was busy scheming, dear boy; I'm not about to drop everything just to go bother some empty-headed girl and a love-struck child." Anti-Cosmo returned in irritation, running his fingers through his hair to straighten it back out from the fall, "Unlike your godfather there, staring vacantly into space, my schedule is packed with things I need to do."

"Like?"

"Free my loyal anti-fairies, of course. I need to spend time planning how to break them out."

"That shouldn't take more than twenty minutes with your estimated intelligence capacity." A.J. pointed out, "Being the opposite of Cosmo, you're a certified genius. Planning a jailbreak should be a cakewalk." Anti-Cosmo shot him a glare.

"I'll be making **your** bad luck _especially_ painful." he sneered and tried to stand. Part-way through he failed and sat back down on the table. "Well, I was more comfortable this way." he muttered to himself.

"So what have you been doing for close to four days that keeps you from paying attention to bad luck triggers?" Timmy questioned, leaning forward and poking at the anti-fairy. He frowned suddenly. "You've been ignoring them all that time, weren't you? What were you trying to do, force a magical build-up?"

"Actually, I was dieting." Anti-Cosmo huffed. He glanced up at the scowling teen, then sulked, folding his arms over his chest as he looked away. "Fine. I was ignoring the triggers because I didn't care to come back here." he finally admitted.

"We need your help making Remy miserable. Do you care about that?" Timmy asked and the anti-fairy brightened, a grin spreading on his face.

"Ah, sweet music of that boy's agony! It calms my heart and soothes my soul!" he purred, "For the chance to hear that siren song of misery, I'll lend a dark hand!"

"Great! 'Cause Danny Phantom's out and we need somebody to trash nullifiers in his place." Chester exclaimed and looked up at the brunet, "So what's the plan and when does that Spire go down?"

"We do it like last time. Everyone here will wear the magitech armor with strands of Cosmo's hair in the fibers and the Heart of Dimmsdale emblem on them so they can distract the units and stay safe from Remy's wishes." Timmy returned, "With the anti-magic units busy trying to update the server system on the locations of us 'fairies', we'll heat up the computer system and force an overload and shutdown of the whole system! After that, we'll just walk in, plant the bombs, walk out and detonate 'em."

"With Anti-Cosmo's immunity to nullifiers, it will be up to him to destroy the nullifier units before they get close to the magic-users." Caleb agreed, "Or those of us with magic will be taken out of the fight before the damage is complete."

"I say we attack tonight!" Timmy declared and the group of teens looked suddenly uneasy.

"Tonight's not a good night." Chester pointed out, "Pop and I are having a Guys' Night Out and I promised I'd be home in time for it. I kinda forgot to tell ya 'bout that..."

"I'm going shopping with my mom. We're buying a new car for me since they think me being happy is making them all feel happier and better." Trixie added, "Sorry."

"I'm studying for grade-out tests." Tootie put in, "If I pass, the school says I can move up to the next grade, so I'm trying to get through two at the same time. The sooner I'm a full-time high school student, the better."

"I'm still working on your murder mystery." A.J. explained, "Between picking through the results of the simulation program and compiling a list of your known enemies and motives, I'm beat most days. I'll need some time to recharge and be ready for an assault."

"I am still being punished for forgetting to take a hand grenade out of my pants pocket before it was put in the laundry." Sanjay sighed, "I am not allowed to be out with weapons for the next two weeks."

"My mom wants to take me on a Mother-Son retreat camp." Elmer sighed miserably, "She says I need counseling for wearing your hat all the time. I told her I promised you I'd wear it, but then she starts crying and she always craves a bubble bath after she does that. We'll be gone every weekend until October."

"I need time to establish the insignia as the official symbol of the Heart of Dimmsdale." Caleb explained to the brunet, "That could take a week at the least! Plus, I'll need additional time to inscribe the insignia onto the magitech armors without damaging them."

"Oh great, so we won't be able to attack the Spire until next month?" Timmy exclaimed in exasperation, "What rotten luck! How is it that you didn't remember to tell me any of this until just now?" He blinked, then shot an infuriated glare at Anti-Cosmo. **"You!"** he snarled as the anti-fairy smiled and lifted his still shining black-star wand.

"It's a start at recovery." he remarked softly, "I'm still fairly light-headed from lack of bad luck, but this will do for now. Give me a week or so to fully recover. I'll be ready to aid you in this mission at that time." Another weak flap of his wings and the smile grew slightly wider. "I don't suppose your magnanimous offer of a room at your little manor is still available?" he asked casually. The brunet pulled at his hair and fumed as Wanda and Cosmo floated by him with droll expressions.

"I told you so." Wanda simply remarked.

* * *

The days marched on slowly, the members of Team Turner and their opponents, Remy Buxaplenty and Denzel Crocker, all working furiously to either prepare for attacks on the Spires or complete the newest defenses for them. The destruction of the strands of hair before the processing could be completed resulted in disaster for Remy, who learned that what remained of the evidence could not be used to identify the brunet that had pestered him so much.

He fumed over it for a least a week before resuming his normal schedule of trying to advance the A-List back to top popularity and putting in bids for usurping Timmy's title for himself.

The televised unveiling of the Timmy Turner Foundation for Future Education by the Hounder Organization gave him a conniption, as did the new Heart of Dimmsdale insignia that the group also revealed as the official logo for the title and foundation. The city welcomed it with open arms. Remy threw the plasma screen television out the second floor balcony window.

The Populars found themselves the target of a strange streak of bad luck. Each time they brought out a good luck charm, it vanished instantly in a burst of pink or green smoke. The sounds of laughter seemed to follow them almost constantly and it wasn't long before even Remy was sick of being around them, which made the laughter louder and more delighted-sounding.

Tootie had completed her tests and hosted a party at her house for passing them both with flying colors. Dimmsdale's youngest high school student in history, she ended her party with a blast. Quite literally, as she had her fairy godmother grant her wish of detonating the girls' bathrooms in the middle school as penalty for having so much pink decorating the interiors when they knew how she felt about the color and what it meant to her.

Victoria's Charity Babysitters had fewer run-ins from the gang of thugs Remy had hired to run them out of business, mostly because Victoria had pitched the idea of getting her girls to a martial arts class and actually got the vote for it. Jeanette could no longer take the competition and was thrown out of the city for endangering darling little Sophia. Remy made sure she didn't remember anything of her time there.

Sophia herself seemed much happier when people weren't constantly showering her with attention and gifts. On occasions when she toddled around in front of her apartment building or the local pizzeria in the company of a fairy princess porcelain doll, Timmy would pass by on his training exercises and occasional anti-magic device hunting runs. They'd chat a bit, though to the most observant of onlookers it seemed as though the little girl's eyes strayed more to the iPod decorating the boy's shirt than anything else, then they would part ways. Timmy found himself disliking the girl less and less with each random visit, but never knew exactly why that was so or why his best friend, Chester, constantly threatened to tackle him head-on if he so much as considered following Sophia home.

As vaguely promised by Sam Manson, Timmy did get another call back on the status of his cousin. Two weeks and little progress had been made; though Team Phantom had located their team leader, he was apparently sealed in some strange bubble that thwarted all efforts to break him free. The last Timmy heard before someone called out in a panic from the background was that Sam intended to use the Stygian Seal to get Danny freed. He received only static from calls after that conversation. Caleb told him not to worry, but the android immediately went into a nearby kitchen and the sound of clattering pots and pans made Timmy worry more. There was nothing he could do, though; Danny was in Amity Park, or, at least, the only safe entrance to the Ghost Zone was in Amity Park, and Timmy couldn't survive in there without ghostly backup. Magic was useless in a mana-less environment and most ghosts resented the fact that he was both dead and alive almost as much as they resented Danny being a human and ghost at the same time.

For what it was worth, Danny Phantom was out of battle indefinitely and Amity Park was beginning to panic the longer they went without seeing the familiar streak of black and white soaring overhead. Especially those that found Phantom Taxi far too convenient to take up driving to work again.

The first case of Veronica taking a more active role in seeking proof of Timmy's continued life came from stumbling onto her at the cemetery, setting up cameras around the little grave. Thanks to Anti-Cosmo's bad luck feasting, her cameras all had their lenses too far out of focus to make much sense of anything. She did, however, manage to tackle him again when both were at the grave at the same time inadvertently. Timmy had panicked, fled, then complained bitterly in the medical ward at the Ivory Tower that the girl needed to trim her nails more often. Caleb agreed, but mostly because the mad dash had resulted in a torn shirt and all that remained of it were pink scraps of fabric.

Both Tootie and Trixie, in a rare sense of partnership and camaraderie, had offered to go to Veronica's house in the dead of night and gouge out her eyes with perfectly manicured nails as a form of retribution for having inflicted damage to their beloved immortal. Wanda **made** him decline.

.

After roughly three weeks of preparation and dealing with the stresses of life as Timmy knew it, the team was finally ready to begin another assault on the Dark Spire. They gathered in the Ivory Tower to make a final decision on what was to happen and try to make contact with Team Phantom, if only to wish them luck in retrieving their own team leader.

"No answer, huh?" Tootie asked after watching the brunet hold the cell phone to his ear for several minutes without any reaction. He clapped it closed and shook his head. "Well, they should be fine. They've been doing dangerous stuff longer than us, so they have tons of experience, I bet." she sighed and managed a smile for him, "So let's do our best together on our mission! That way we can tell them all about it when they get back from theirs!"

"Right." Timmy agreed and headed back to the desk with the other members of his team, "Okay, everyone got the game plan? Anti-Cosmo, you get what's going on?"

"What do you take me for? A runt of MENSA?" the anti-fairy retorted indignantly, "Of _course_ I know what's expected of me! I'm the one who has to destroy those nullification devices that are a burden to you positive-magic-users."

"No harm in checking." the brunet answered peaceably and waved a hand around the table, gesturing at the brown boxes set before each teen, "Caleb brought in the magitech armors for us. They've all been modified again so they carry the insignia. Once everyone changes into the armor, we'll head off to the Dark Spire."

"Are you gonna be going in with the normal outfit or are you gonna dress up as Neogene like you did before?" Chester asked him suddenly and Timmy blinked at the question.

"Uh, well, since you guys know who I am now, there's no point in not wearing my usual clothes, but we don't know if Remy is going to show up again, so I'd better stick with my stealth outfit." he replied and looked worried, "Also, I still remember those cameras from the second Spire we destroyed. If there are any cameras at the other Spires, I don't want them to see me dressed as my old self. There's a freaky weird organization that's been hunting after Caleb and Danny for the longest time for some stupid reason and I don't want them to see me as a new target to add." He rapped on the table with a grin. "Okay, everyone! Let's go! Change up quick; we want that tower down before dawn!" The group cheered then grabbed up their armors before rushing off to get ready for the attack. He watched them leave, looked down at the white Adventurer's Map on his arm, then sighed. "We don't even have a reading on the number of traps and the ratios. What if this plan doesn't work?" he murmured worriedly.

"Then we come up with another, on the field if we have to." Anti-Cosmo told him quietly. He slipped his hands into his pockets, turning his back on the brunet and his fairy godparents and gazing down at the tabletop. "Believe it or not, I want those Spires destroyed as badly as you do." he added under his breath.

* * *

Master Control Spire~

"Spire Four Squadron Control units active. Current total set at two hundred. Spire Three Squadron Control units active. Current total..." Crocker read off the reports to himself as the screen before him lit up with wire-frame models of the Dark Spires. "Everything seems like it's under control." he finally remarked and looked over at the smaller computer where Remy's face appeared in a vid-conference window.

"For now, perhaps, but I know that mongrel is going to make a move." the blonde returned with a slight scowl. He narrowed his eyes. "He and that little bunch of outcasts have been awfully quiet for the longest time. I believe they've been biding their time for another attempt at my beautiful Spires." Remy added and sat back on his end of the line, "Continue monitoring the situation and let me know _immediately_ if anything begins to go wrong with any one of those towers!" With that, he clicked off. Crocker sniffed disdainfully before returning his attention to the monitor before him, watching the models and their blinking displays of light that represented the various units surrounding it in their hatches.

"I **want** him to come, you buffoon. Magical power like that could be very useful." he muttered and smiled, holding up the small motherboard that had been inside the device detector stolen from Chester weeks ago, "Very useful indeed. Once I have a greater understanding of this marvelous technology, I'll be able to harness fairy magic without actually destroying the creature in the process! I'll have the proof that fairy godparents exist **and** I'll have the power to resurrect the Heart of Dimmsdale in one fell swoop!" He tapped the card against his chin, chuckling to himself.

"Come, come, come to me, new Timmy. Just a little further, a little more training. Bring me absolution when I've pushed you to the furthest limit of your power." he purred, "Then, and only then, will I get you and the fairy that haunts my faintest memories to surrender the power to return our city's most precious child."

* * *

A/N: Someone once asked how Timmy was resurrected by Danny. The idea behind it is Death can collect a mortal soul only once, cuz it's a mortal soul, right? You can only die once, right? Well, since Death had already 'collected' Timmy's soul, he got checked off as being collected. Then Danny snatched him away and put his soul back. That means Death can't collect him again, he's already been marked off the list. That's why Timmy is known as The One Who Stands Beyond Death's Reach.

there's more to it, but I'll post the poem tied to it later on.


	11. Chapter 11

11

Dark Spire Four~

Sundown in the southeastern district, the same region Sophia lived with her new fairy godmother. A Dark Spire towered high over its spacious lots, looking down upon its region with the loftiness of a black imperial obelisk. Team Turner gazed up at it from the shadows of the alleys surrounding the tower. Despite knowing they were now fully protected from physical harm and wishes alike, the teens still felt anxious. This would be the fourth Spire down if they could manage the server overload again; half of Dimmsdale would be free to use magic again.

"Fifty percent of the city liberated once this tower falls." A.J. murmured as his fingers twitched nervously over the holstered laser pistols at his waist, "Man, that gives me a rush!"

"The more Spires we take out, the greater amount of magic is restored to the city." Timmy agreed and looked over at the group of fairies clustered nearby, "Hey, how much magic is needed to restore the bridge between Fairy World and here completely?"

"At least eighty percent magical influence must be present in an area to support the rainbow bridge connecting the two worlds." Anti-Cosmo answered, looking up at the Dark Spire, "There are eight of these Spires total in the city, correct?"

"Five now. We took out three of them and we're making sure they stay down." Tootie remarked proudly.

"This one will be the fourth." A.J. mused aloud, "That won't be enough to make the bridge function. We'll need to take down two more Spires along with this one in order to complete the connection to Fairy World." Timmy and Tootie both lifted the maps on their arms, commanding them to begin a scan of the area. Chester pulled the detector from his belt and tapped at the keys, watching the screen begin to light up. The fairies and Caleb gathered closer to study the readouts, concerned for their future safety in the field.

Within minutes the displays lit up with various markers and the group began counting quickly, gauging the threat that lay before them that evening.

"Oh, **not** cool." Chester muttered, "Four fairy traps for every three nullifiers and two destroyers."

"Unit population is estimated at about two thousand?" Timmy reported in alarm, "What the heck is going on? This is a serious jump in numbers! The last Spire only had a little over a thousand units; the one before that had about seven hundred, and so did the one before that, and the first Spire we took out had less than three hundred!" He looked over at the team worriedly. "They're getting tougher. Are you guys sure you can handle this?" he asked.

"We might need to revise the plan." Caleb told the brunet quietly, "There are far too many nullifiers for even Danny Phantom to destroy easily on his own; surely we can't expect Anti-Cosmo to disable them alone." The anti-fairy bristled, but held a wary expression on his face.

"What is this? Exactly how many of these nullifiers are we speaking of anyway?" he demanded and the android lifted his chin, stroking at it with one hand in thought.

"Considering the ratio and the total population... I'd say you'd have to deal with roughly six hundred nullifier units." he returned calmly.

"I'm sorry I asked."

A.J. dug into his pack and brought out his laptop, opening it up on his lap and typing into it quickly. A model of the Spire appeared on the screen and several markers blinked into existence around it.

"This was compiled from the data Trixie stole from Remy's computers early last month when we attacked the third Spire. Based on the projection of the maps from Timmy and Tootie, I believe this model is the one of the Spire before us." he began and motioned to Sanjay, "Sanjay, you're the tactical genius; got any ideas of how to attack the tower when the numbers are stacked way against us?" The Hindu knelt by him and studied the screen intensely, eyes scanning the model and markers.

"The hatch doors are set up in alternating compass points for maximum coverage. Rather intelligent design. The units are all nested within those hatches and will not fully activate unless one of three conditions are met; the Dark Spire is attacked, magic is used within their detection range, or their scanners pick up Cosmo's DNA." he remarked seriously.

"If that's the case, then they'll pick me up as well." Anti-Cosmo muttered irritably and folded his arms up when the group looked up at him, "I share the exact same DNA as Cosmo; we're like twins. How else am I to be his polar opposite if I don't have the genetic coding to match and properly sync with him?" He looked aside at the green-haired fairy whistling absently to himself, then back at the group. "If they are tuned to trace the idiot's DNA, then they'll trace me and..." He blinked and scowled, then turned his head away from them, "Blast it."

"Scared of these things already?" Apollo jeered.

"No. Just vexed at the idea. It brings far too many complications into the forefront."

"We'll need to divide the Spire's surrounding defenses among us and destroy the nullifier units in sections." Sanjay finally announced and looked up at the Spire, "Unless we do that, the magic-users will be overwhelmed by the devices and we will ultimately fail the mission." He turned back to the screen and pointed at the markers, "Here are the hatches for the first level of defense; northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast. The second set is over fifty yards from them; north, south, east and west. The Spire is in the center of the compass. Our objective is to destroy all nullifiers, yes?" The Hindu twisted his frames in thought. "Ah, I see. If we position non-magic users around the Spire so that they face the first level defense points and have the magic-users circle the tower to lure nullifiers towards us, we'll be able to destroy them section by section."

"But they'll lock onto you guys anyway; the magitech armor has Cosmo's hair woven in them." Timmy pointed out and traced his finger along the narrow stripe of green that decorated the teen's right shoulder, "As long as you have that, the traps will think you're Cosmo and will hunt you down."

"Then wish 'em off and transfer the hairs to you or Tootie." Chester suggested with a grin, "We'll snipe off the nullifiers you guys drag into our zones!"

"Chester, A.J., Elmer and I shall take the compass points. Miss Popular can run the gauntlet with the rest of you, as she has Apollo to provide cover for her." Sanjay added on with a faintly derisive tone, "The fairies will also circle the Spire, keeping the units distracted while the anti-fairy picks off the nullifiers from the air." He nodded at last. "Yes, that should do. As we are destroying nullifiers when the magic-users lead them into our zones of attack, the server system should overload from the activity. Provided Cosmo does not destroy an entire squadron of them on his own again."

"I thought Timmy wished for fireworks!" Cosmo declared defensively and huffed in irritation, "Don't look at me next time you want to party!"

"Calculating the number of devices that will actually be signaling the server system, the number that signaled the last Spire, and the amount of time it took to overload its servers," A.J. rattled off as he tapped at the keyboard again, "I believe the time limit for this Dark Spire's control system should be at eight minutes. According to the reports, this Spire is slated to have only two thousand units total in its arsenal. More than enough to overload the system if they're all activated and constantly ping the server."

"Okay, so let's get into positions. Cosmo, Wanda, I wish the strands of hair from Chester, A.J., Sanjay and Elmer were taken off and put on Trixie's, Tootie's and my magitech armor." Timmy remarked and the couple waved their wands, transferring the strands of green hair, "Okay, fairies take to the air once everyone's in place. Apollo, stick with Trixie to provide her cover. Trixie, one degree separation wishes only; you can't wish yourself away because of the insignia, but you can still force units away from yourself." A.J. packed away the laptop and adjusted the Fenton Phones he wore.

"Give us a few minutes to get into place. We'll call you when we're ready." he told the brunet and ran out of the alley with the rest of the Others.

They didn't need to wait very long. The sky had barely darkened enough to allow the first bright stars of the night to show when the remainder of Team Turner got the call to follow the Others into the empty lots and lure out units. Apollo hung close to Trixie as she darted out towards the Spire. Caleb launched into the air, choosing to fly rather than run to his starting point.

"All of you be careful, all right?" Wanda told the last few members worriedly as she and Cosmo prepared to fly out with Romi to circle the Spire.

"We'll be fine!" Timmy laughed, "Between my immortality and mana manipulation, and Tootie's training from Vicky, nothing's gonna take us out that easily!"

_"Hey! Hurry up! We don't wanna be here all night, y'know! I'm missing Potluck Surprise for this!"_ Chester griped over the Phones.

"What's the surprise?" Timmy questioned.

_"The fact that there's something in the pot to eat! C'mon!"_

Tootie giggled behind her hands and shrugged, then ran out of the alley to join the other teens in their positions around the Spire. Timmy raced after her, laughing at the joke as they hurried into place.

"Tootie! Be safe!" Romi wailed as she flew out after the two of them, "Be sure you have _Revive_ cast on you! Wait!"

"I don't suppose that earlier concern extended to me as well?" Anti-Cosmo mused as he fluttered by the fairy couple. Both glared at him and he grinned. "Just making sure you know where your priorities are. So, shall we?" Then they, too, were gone.

.

"Everyone, call in. Report positions." Timmy called out over the Fenton Phones as he looked up at the Dark Spire.

_"Chester, here. I'm taking up the North position. Got Tricks and Toots in my sight!"_

_"A.J. calling. Taking West side! Trixie and Caleb are in my view!"_

_"This is Sanjay! I am standing at South position! How delightful! I am able to see Caleb and you, Timmy!"_

_"Elmer, here. I'm at East sector! Timmy, sir, you and Tootie are in my range!"_

"Okay! Here goes!" the brunet declared, "When the units are activated, the timer on my armband will start the countdown! Eight minutes until the server overloads! Let's stay in one piece 'til then!" He lifted his hand towards the hatch doors, _"Flagrare Lancea!"_ The spear of fire shot down from above and slammed into the steel covering, wrenching it open and sending alarms blaring into the night sky.

_"I learned this one studying that disc Caleb said I could have! _Radiant swords, descend from the heavens! Holy Lance!_"_ Tootie exclaimed. At her end, she held out the dagger her older sister had given her and aimed it at the hatch doors. It glowed a brilliant white as the spell was cast, sending blades of Light mana into the steel and concrete and ripping through it like rice paper.

_"May the merciless embrace of frost take thee! Absolute!"_ Caleb's voice rang out as the spell of Ice and Wind mana shattered the hatch doors before him.

"Apollo! I wish the hatches were open and the units activated!" Trixie called out from where she stood at the northwest end of the compass. She smiled as the doors flew open and the dozens upon dozens of winking red lights from anti-magic units suddenly shone with a steady brightness within the dark underground corridors. "This is gonna be fun! Only eight minutes? That's barely a workout!" she laughed as the machines began pouring out of the ground.

Aerial units took to the skies, their scanners dancing through the air in the search for magical creatures. Waiting for them high above the heads of the teenagers were three fairy godparents and a single anti-fairy. Wanda gripped the war hammer in her hands, glaring at the spherical devices humming through the air.

"Okay! Just like last time, Cosmo, but don't blow anything up! Just have them chase you around to Anti-Cosmo!" she called out.

_"Ring around the rosie?"_

"Eeeks!" Romi squealed, "I can't stand doing stuff like this! I was trained for defense! I'm not really cut out for actively going after these things!" At her end, the raven-haired fairy was flapping her fans in a panic. Hundreds of silver spheres all aimed their single glowing red eyes at her and Romi's pigtails exploded into frizz. "Eeeks!"

_"Move it, people! They're gunning for us!"_ Timmy cried from down below. The brunet was already racing towards Elmer, a squadron of ground units chasing after him in a frenzy, _"Maybe I shouldn't have taken on so much of Cosmo's hair! Elmer! Get ready to shoot these guys off of me!"_

Standing at East position, the stocky teen whimpered, bringing up a pair of the laser guns A.J. had built. He'd been told how they worked, was taught how to fire them in the training rooms, but this would be the first time he would actually use the things. He would have preferred just smashing into the nullifiers the way he had done before, but that would mean getting into the fray too soon, and both Timmy and Chester had ordered that he stay within his region. They couldn't afford to have anyone accidentally getting in someone's way as they ran through the compass points. And when an Other got orders from both the Heart of Dimmsdale and the replacement Leader of the Others, they listened; they listened **real** good.

"Don't shoot wrong. Don't shoot wrong." Elmer whispered to himself as he took aim at the units bearing the small dish arrays on their bodies. Timmy raced by him, yelling furiously as he made his way through the other boy's sector. Elmer fired off several shots almost wildly, panicking at the sight of the brunet streaking by in the black stealth suit while shrieking. The laser bursts punctured several units, halting them dead in their tracks. Blinking in surprise at his achievement, it took a few moments to sink into his mind that he had successfully taken down a few of the nullifiers hounding after Timmy. He broke into a wide smile. "Yeah! I did it! I shot the nullifiers!" he cheered.

_"Great! Only five hundred and eighty to go! Don't go easy on 'em, Elmer!"_ Chester called out with a laugh as the sounds of additional laser fire and magical explosions filled the air. Confidence bolstered, the russet-haired boy lifted the laser guns and readied for the next set of units to come by, the ones chasing Caleb towards him.

.

Overhead, the three fairies spun wildly around the Spire, dodging nets and nullifiers alike in their mad dash to shake their pursuers. Picking off units one by one, Anti-Cosmo kept busy with conjuring mirrors for the nullifiers to crash into. Each one shattered allowed him a chance at triggering some bad luck for the machines. Everything from a sudden power lag to a random internal kernel error struck down the nullifiers that didn't avoid the mirrors in time. Spheres dropped from the sky like giant silver raindrops, causing several voices from below to yell up at him to watch what he was doing.

"I doing the best I can, blast it! This isn't exactly what an anti-fairy's magic was meant for, you know!" he snapped back down in retaliation, "How about **you** come up here and toss mirrors willy-nilly at these ungodly contraptions yourself?"

_"How about doing it more than one at a time? Caleb's griping about nearly short-circuiting something down here and I don't want to have any fairy casualties up there!"_ Timmy yelled back through the Phones. The anti-fairy made a face and only resumed conjuring the mirrors in the paths of the nullifiers. He did, however, watch where he sent them crashing afterwards a bit more carefully.

"Ten, eleven, twelve..." he counted out as he waved his wand almost frantically, "Thirteen... If only we had thought to do this on our most hallowed day, these confounded creations wouldn't be a problem!" He glared down at the black star that topped his wand. "If only..." he muttered.

.

Sanjay whistled cheerfully as he peered through the targeting sight of the laser rifle A.J. put together for him. Moving targets were fairly easy to hit, and the nullifiers with their goofy appearances due to the dishes on their bodies made for incredibly simple targets. Sniping off several in seconds, he grinned as Trixie made her run by him, Apollo flying close by for support. Too easy.

"I had thought these Spires would prove more of a challenge for us, but I suppose that nothing can truly defeat the Heart of Dimmsdale." he remarked to himself brightly, "Not even Death!" He fired a few more shots as Tootie passed through, then touched fingers to the Fenton Phones. "How are we doing?" he asked.

_"The detector says that we got rid of eighty nullifiers!" _Chester called out an update.

_"Time is at seven minutes! Keep it up! Once the nullifiers are gone, we can use magic to keep everyone defended while the server gets bombarded!"_ Timmy reported between puffs for air, _"Anti-Cosmo! Can't you hit any more than just one unit at a time?"_

_"If you bother me with that once more, I'll send the next nullifier down on your doltish head!"_ the anti-fairy shot back.

"I believe we can do better than just eighty nullifiers in one minute." Sanjay murmured with a smile, lifting the rifle once again. This was a battlefield and it was home to him. A gun in his hands and a target to aim for; this was what made him happy and he had the Heart of Dimmsdale to thank for it.

.

Tootie huffed as she raced through Chester's range, her eyes glancing down at the display of anti-magic units surrounding the tower to be sure things were going as planned. It wasn't that much of a start for all the attention they were getting. The Spire in the display was supposed to start flashing as the signals from the units started bombarding the servers with data. So far, it barely even blinked at her.

"It might take a little longer than A.J. thought." she muttered to herself and flailed her arms as she nearly tripped over rubble from falling devices.

_"Watch yourself, Toots! I got your back, but keep your eyes open for everything else!"_ Chester called over the sounds of laser fire spraying over the units dogging her, _"Don't burn out too fast; we still have about six minutes to go!"_ Tootie nodded automatically in response, steadying herself once again as she continued running. How far behind her were those units she woke up anyway? She glanced over her shoulder and yelped.

A whole mini-army of the things chased after her, a motley squadron of ground units and aerial ones, with the flying spheres shooting towards her faster than she could run. With a cry, she threw herself forward and covered her head to avoid the nets from the fairy traps.

"Romi! I wish the aerial units were chasing something other than me!" she cried out.

_"I'm sorry, Tootie! There are too many nullifiers! I can't grant it!"_ the fairy called out in a pained voice, _"Help! They're gaining on me!"_ Scrambling back to her feet, the young Goth dashed onwards, calling out for help on behalf of her fairy godmother. The Spire on her map continued to remain unlit.

* * *

Master Control Spire~

The alarm rang out as Crocker lifted his head from his latest project. Welding torch in one hand, motherboard card in the other, he studied the monitor and its split-screen watch of the five Spires. One of the divided screens swelled to override the others, flashing red as units scattered around the model in a chaotic swirl that circled counterclockwise with the Spire in the dead center. He smiled and set the tools down, heading for the monitor to watch the madness. The new Timmy had struck, just as Remy had thought he would. And just as Crocker predicted, the control units tagging along with each squadron of units were taking the brunt of the overwhelming signals. The servers within the Dark Spire remained fairly oblivious to the chaos and continued perfecting the nullifier program.

Was that other fairy with him? The one with the DNA in his files? He checked the status of the signals, ordered the Dark Spire to bypass the control unit for one squadron to request that data, then returned command to the units to allow himself leisure time to study the results. Yes, that fairy was there, and doing that multiple trick again. Crocker sighed happily and sat back in his seat, watching the monitor relay a scale model visual of what was happening at the site of Spire Four. He'd tell Remy about it in a little while; he just wanted to have a little fun first.

* * *

Residential District, Upper Middle-Class~

"Pick up? You want a pick up?" Victoria grumbled into the phone. A late night call was not one of her favorite things to deal with, especially since leaving meant she wouldn't be around to harass Tootie when she finally got back from wherever it is she would randomly run off to for hours at a time when the sun set. Wherever she went, it probably had something to do with the twerp, as she often came downstairs in the morning with a supremely pleased expression on her face, not unlike a cat at all.

_"The parents came in really late from a meeting at work and I told them you'd be around for pick up. Please, please, please, can you pick me up, Vicky? It's dark and weird things happen sometimes when it's dark!"_ the girl at the other end wailed, _"If I hear Chip Skylark singing from the sewers one more time, I'm gonna go crazy! I just put flowers at his grave-marker last week!"_

"Fine, fine. But you're gettin' a deduction in pay for this! And my name is **Victoria**! Got it?" Victoria growled, "Where are ya?" Jotting down the address, she hung up and reached for the keys to her car. Pick ups had to be done in the company van, which was parked in the garage at the office building where the babysitter service was housed. Muttering irritably to herself, she headed out to get to the office.

* * *

Dark Spire Four~

"We're down to about five minutes! How are we in the nullifier count?" Timmy called out, waving towards Chester as he raced through the blonde's zone of attack. He'd just passed through Elmer's zone again and the teen was getting much better with his shots, taking out several more nullifiers within the few seconds he had to pick off targets.

_"Doing a hell of a lot better."_ Chester returned between shots, _"We started out with six hundred units even, and now we're down to about four-fifty."_

_"Yeah, no thanks to the anti-fairy upstairs."_ Apollo added dryly.

_"I heard that! Come Friday the Thirteenth, I'm sending the Anti-Apollo after **your** ungrateful ass!"_

A pulse of anti-magic suddenly blossomed out from the Spire seconds after that report, sending the magic-users sprawling to the concrete. Tumbling across asphalt and concrete alike, the brunet yelped painfully. Picking himself up, he rubbed his head, trying to ignore the throbbing headache, then called out once more.

"What was **that**? It felt like a super-nullifier or something!" he yelled and held out his hands, summoning up the Light orb. The mana flickered before his fingers, then died out. "It's drained out too much mana from the air! I can't even bring up the Light orb!" he cried in alarm.

_"The Spire Server System must have completed another enhancement on the nullification formula! It refreshed its systems and that's probably what sent out the new pulse!"_ A.J. returned in surprise, _"I don't get it! You guys are making the units go crazy chasing you; why is the server system focusing on the program and not the signals from the units?"_

"Well, maybe we're not signaling them enough! Cosmo, Wanda, Anti-Cosmo! How are you doing from that wave?" Timmy called out, sliding the Thunder Scepter from his back and jumping into the squadron of units that had been following him.

_"Ow... The ground is very hard."_ Wanda returned tiredly, _"Ugh. I'm still in one piece, but our hit was probably harder than what you got, Sport. We were closer to the source of that mega-nullifier."_

_"My head really hurts now."_ Cosmo complained.

_"Wave? What wave?"_ Anti-Cosmo asked dumbly, _"Why'd everybody flop out of the sky?"_

"Never mind! Keep casting on the aerial units! I'll pick up what I can from here!" the brunet called, slamming the head of the staff into units around him, "Remember, guys! Only destroy the nullifiers! We need the other units to bombard the servers!"

.

A.J. fired off several more shots of the laser pistols, biting down on his lip as he tried his best to avoid hitting Timmy as he darted about among the units himself. Why it was that he was attacking the squadron head-on himself was unknown, but maybe it had something to do with the sudden lack of magic on his end. He scanned the area quickly and spotted the red-haired android staggering into his zone of attack.

"That's weird. What's his deal?" he muttered and quickly brought out a pair of binoculars, focusing them on the incoming android. He could see the units still chasing after the green-clad angel, but what worried him more was the shower of sparks jumping from Caleb. "Oh, man! That pulse must've damaged some serious circuits in that guy!" He grabbed for the lasers again and opened fire on the nullifiers trailing him.

_"Th-there's a p-p-p-problem."_ the android managed to say over the communication channels, _"I've c-c-calculated the totalsss of units. The n-n-numberrrs don't add up!"_

"What? What do you mean?" A.J. exclaimed in alarm.

_"T-t-two hunnndred units... unac-c-c-ounted forrrr..."_ Caleb fought his damage for the words, then collapsed in a heap. A buzz filled the silence for a moment, then clicked off.

"Hey, guys! We got a magic-user down!" A.J. yelled out, firing furiously on the nullifier units as the squadron raced past the motionless android to lock onto the nearest magic-user, Timmy.

_"Lemme guess. Caleb? Crud! All of his units are coming after me now!"_ Timmy exclaimed, _"A.J.! You're the closest we have to a technician! See if you can get Caleb online again! Password is 'Good morning, Caleb'!"_ With that, the brunet leaped out from among the swarm of ground units and raced off for another turn around the Spire. A.J. gulped and ran for the fallen android, scrabbling for tools at his belt.

According to the angel himself, Caleb was built using magitechnology and no human could understand the workings of magitechnology unless he was there to aid in it. So how was he, a fourteen-year-old super-genius in modern technology, supposed to figure out and fix a sentient robot built with a mix of magic and ancient technology? A.J. groaned at the idea of it as he started searching for a hidden panel of some kind on the android to begin patching the systems.

"Two hundred units unaccounted for. Those were his last words." he murmured to himself, "What does that mean? There are nullifiers, destroyers and capture units. We're destroying nullifiers and leaving destroyers and fairy traps alone. The ratio hasn't changed, right? So why would there be two hundred devices missing?"

.

Romi moaned softly as she picked herself up from the concrete, the sound of her godchild crying for help still ringing in her ears. She fluttered her wings weakly and gasped. That's right! Tootie's wish to send the units towards another target hadn't been granted yet! She scrabbled for her wand, held it out and waved it. The golden light flickered erratically from the star, then died. Still too many nullifiers in activation. She hugged herself tightly, gasping as the magic from her wand and herself began leeching away.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Tootie. I wanted to grant your wish." Romi murmured sorrowfully, "I wanted to be a good fairy godmother, but this is too much for me. These things... I can't last much longer." She doubled over, touching her forehead to the ground as she shuddered. Too much, it was all too much. Fairy godparent training didn't cover things like this, just told her that it was best to avoid confrontations with anti-magical devices entirely. Here she was, stupid little fairy, hunting them down with her fans and godchild, doing the exact opposite of her training. She was putting her godchild in danger!

If anything happened to Tootie because she couldn't or didn't follow Da Rules, she could wind up just like Cosmo and Wanda, or worse. But the way things were turning out, she might not have to worry about that much longer.

"Help..." Romi whimpered, feeling lightheaded as her magic drifted away into nothingness.

And then the feeling faded, a surge of fresh magical energy pouring into her, reviving her senses and strength. Startled, the fairy sat up and blinked at the green-haired godfather kneeling before her with his own wand aimed at her head. He opened his eyes, blinked at her, then grinned.

"Magic boost. Cool, huh?" he asked cheerfully and pointed skyward, "Let's go. The wave is stabilizing so we should be okay for now. Just don't do any magic tricks too soon." With that, he flew up, caught the attentions of several aerial units and vanished around the tower in the mad dash for chaos again. Romi stared up after him, then touched fingers to the Fenton Phones.

"Tootie? Are you okay?" she called out, "Do you still want that wish granted?"

_"Romi! You're okay! I was so worried when everyone started falling from the sky!"_ the young Goth exclaimed in relief, _"I'm fine for now. Sanjay's covering for me for a bit so the units aren't so bad, and Wanda just flew past me and all the aerial units went after her."_

"So you're feeling all right?" Romi questioned as she took to the air and rejoined the other fairies in their circling of the Spire.

_"Yeah. Why?"_

"Nothing. Just making sure you were okay." the fairy godmother returned and looked puzzled. For some reason, that answer didn't make her feel any better.

.

"One, two, three..." Anti-Cosmo counted between puffs of air. This was more tiring than he thought it would be. But then, he didn't have the other anti-fairies taking up the brunt of the duties for him. He sighed, wiped at his face with a handkerchief and went back to waving his wand at units, conjuring up mirrors. None of the other bad luck triggers would work at this altitude.

He felt a shiver run down his back and paused, a look of confusion passing over him. Strange, he hadn't ever felt something like that before. Looking over his shoulder to see if something had perhaps run along the space between his wings, he blinked in surprise at a spherical unit hovering there, red light shining like some demonic eye and a butterfly net in position to swing over him.

"What the hell is _this_?" the anti-fairy exclaimed in alarm, "Not me, you fool! I'm an anti-fairy! Not a fairy! _Not a fairy!_" He waved his arms in a panic as the unit flew straight for him, then suddenly split apart as something rippled through the air and passed across the device.

"Stay out of range!" Cosmo's voice called out and the anti-fairy looked over at his light-hearted double, "If they don't get a chance to scan you, they won't chase you! Stay out of range!"

"Who are you to tell me what to do, you nitwit?" Anti-Cosmo shot back in irritation.

"Someone who's been at this way longer than you!" Another rush of air flew past him and the anti-fairy watched a second unit split apart and drop from the sky, "Now get out of the way!" Beating a hasty retreat, Anti-Cosmo flew further from the Spire before turning back around to conjure more mirrors.

"One, two, three..." he counted again and looked down at his wand with a scowl, "I appreciate the ability to have clear, concise and coherent thoughts, but would it be too much to ask to have even a small sampling of my idiot doppleganger's power?" He went back to waving it again, pushing the complaint out of mind and focusing on the destruction of the aerial nullifiers. This would make Remy miserable and that was good for him; yes, vengeance of any kind was delicious.

* * *

Master Control Spire~

The nullifier units were winking out at a much faster rate. Spire Four was beginning to activate the production rooms to build replacements. Crocker watched the proceedings with mild disappointment. He had hoped that the new Timmy would catch onto what was going on much sooner, but apparently he wasn't as intelligent as he had hoped. Well, that was to be expected. Crocker himself had said that he wasn't very bright, but he was creative. And although the plan that the teen and his fairy allies were using to attempt another server overload was rather 'out there', it wasn't creative enough and had too much tactical knowledge to be from him.

It was possible that someone else crafted the plan in his stead.

The retired teacher puzzled over the thought. If the new Timmy didn't create that plan, then who did? There was the knowledge that the brunet had come in contact with Timmy Turner's old friends, so perhaps one of them had contrived the plot to circle the Spire. Not Chester, the boy was as much an idiot as Timmy had been. Not A.J., he was more scientifically-minded and the idea of destroying technology went against his grain. That left the two 'backup' friends the Turner boy had held in reserve, Sanjay and Elmer. Of the two of them, Sanjay came from a military family, and this plan was worthy of an Army assault on a fortress.

So young Sanjay had crafted the plan to overload the servers. Crocker smiled and tapped his fingertips together. Perhaps he should have the Spires learn from his tactics as well. He reached out and tapped at the console. In minutes the other Spires' servers connected together on a higher bandwidth and linked with Spire Four, feeding from the information it was receiving and sending out. He watched the models a little longer, then decided it was about time to let Remy know another Spire would soon be falling.

The night was still young, and he wanted to experience the rich boy's fit of disbelief and outrage before anything especially good happened on the battlefield.

* * *

Streets of Dimmsdale~

Dimmsdale's nightlife still had a ways to go before it could actually be considered a 'nightlife'. Very few people were out on the streets and not many shops and clubs were open. Though the city was regaining some amount of hope and cheerfulness, much of Dimmsdale still wallowed in gloom and doom. Victoria grudgingly admitted that what Timmy said may be true after all; without magic in the city, kids couldn't keep their special quality that made them happy and passed on their happiness to other people around them, cheering up the whole city and keeping it moving smoothly. It was still going to take a while to get Dimmsdale back to normal, but not if they continued to cling to and mourn the Heart of the city.

Subconsciously, Victoria touched fingers to the little red heart-shaped pin on her lapel. She had dressed in her green business outfit for a meeting with a bank manager to open accounts for the babysitter service and store the income from various donations and fundraisers the girls insisted on holding for the service. The pin was something she had bought and put on at the last minute, partially for the leverage it gave her in getting a free account, but mostly out of a sentiment she wouldn't admit to anyone. It was going to be hard to try convincing anyone in Dimmsdale to let go of Timmy Turner's memory; they would fight that to the death if need be.

"We're all idiots." Victoria sighed and glanced out the window at the city skyline. Several tall and dark shapes dotted the scene; the Dark Spires that, Timmy often growled out under his breath, were the cause of the loss of magic in the city. "Just give me ten minutes with a wrecking ball, twerp. None of those things will be standing after that." she remarked with a grin. A glance at her watch and another sigh; another few turns and she'd be at the office building to get the van for the pick up.

Victoria hoped that another of those Spires would fall soon. She wanted something to gloat over the next day, even if she had no part in what happened.

* * *

Dark Spire Four~

Chester studied the detector between shots at the nullifiers. The numbers were dropping more quickly now, especially since Sanjay went from a rifle to a large pair of laser blasters, firing off shots twice as often and fast as before. The chaos from earlier was dying down since Caleb fell from the anti-magic wave that passed over the group. Not good. If there wasn't enough activity keeping the units interested, the server system wasn't going to be overwhelmed enough to shut down.

"Yo, Timmy! How's the countdown?" he called out.

_"Huh? Uh, we're at three and a half minutes. The server should be running hot by now."_ the brunet returned.

_"Not at this rate, Timmy!"_ Tootie's voice interrupted, _"I've been keeping an eye on the signal rates between the Spire and the units! The Dark Spire isn't even batting an eye at all the chasing around!"_

_"What? That's not possible!"_

"We're taking out nullifiers left and right, but the other units are starting to head for targets that they really want." Chester reported and fired off several shots at the nullifier units chasing Trixie as she passed through his zone, "Keep it up, Tricks! You're doing great!"

_"We've still got a lot more aerial nullifiers flying around!"_ Timmy called back in irritation, _"Anti-Cosmo! Stop playing around and just destroy them already!"_

_"I'm **not** playing!"_ the anti-fairy shrieked in frustration, _"I'm doing the best I can!"_

_"It's not enough! You're the leader of the anti-fairies! Do something about all those units!"_

Chester counted the units on the screen of the detector again, frowning after a moment of rolling numbers in his head. Stupid as he was when it came to math, even this was so obviously wrong it came to his attention. Something wasn't on the level. The count was all wrong.

"Nullifier count is down to about two hundred and thirty. The other counts are the same, sort of. Lost a couple of fairy traps here and there." Chester muttered to himself and started adding up the original set of numbers. He blinked. "Hey, there's two hundred of 'em missing! Timmy! We're missing two hundred units!" he exclaimed.

_"They're probably the Mars units; those came from another Spire and that other Spire might be this one."_ Timmy returned in exasperation, _"Anti-Cosmo! I know you like destroying stuff and you are holding back on it! Do you really want to help or not? We've only got about three minutes left!"_

_"Leave me **alone**!"_ the anti-fairy snapped, _"You focus on your blasted little tin cans down on the ground and let me do this my way up here!"_

"We're missing units." Chester repeated to himself with a thoughtful frown, "Why are we missing units? Why aren't the signals reaching the server system? Why isn't this Spire going crazy like the last one?" He looked up at the tower in suspicion. "What are we doing wrong?"


	12. Chapter 12

12

A.J. studied the circuitry that composed much of Caleb's interior system, frowning as he tried to make sense of the exotic components that stared up at him. The metal that surrounded and connected all the circuitry was a silvery color, familiar though A.J. wasn't sure why. Running his finger along it and the tiny markings etched into the metal, it finally dawned on him what the metal reminded him of; Tootie's bracelets.

"Aionis. This is that metal that channels mana for magic." he muttered and traced them to a chamber that surrounded three gems in a cluster, "So what is this?" He peered at the chamber closely, following a series of wires touching several circuit-boards to the chamber where they passed into several plates touching face with the gems. "Okay, so the gems are a power source and they feed into the boards and from there they get channeled into the metal which passes the power through his whole body." A.J. murmured to himself and blinked, "Well, the nullifiers affect him and he says he runs off of mana, so these must be some kind of containers for mana that act as Caleb's power supply." He studied the gems themselves and pouted. "Cracks. That pulse must have cracked the gems. Maybe enough to halt the flow of power?" he muttered.

If that was all that was needed, then he would just have to put power back into the android. But, they didn't have any gems that could replace the cracked ones. What could he use? A.J. carefully tapped one of the gems with a fingertip and jerked it back when the stone seemed to shine brighter under the contact. All right, what caused that?

Timmy often said that everything in the world was made with mana in them, even people and animals. That was proven when the brunet nearly purged himself of the stuff in that blast of light and fire at the third Spire. Maybe the gems were still part-way full with mana and it needed to touch more mana to have a good charge? If one of the gems could get enough mana stored into it, it might be enough to bring the android online.

"Hey, Tootie! Can you get over to me real quick?" A.J. called into the Fenton Phones.

_"Yeah, why? I'm kinda being chased by a bunch of units!"_ the young Goth returned.

"I need to borrow your bracelets for something!" the super-genius called back and studied the chamber and its surrounding bands of engraved metal, "I have an idea on how to fix Caleb!"

.

Trixie slowed a little in her dashing around the Spire as she spotted A.J. bent over the fallen angel. What was going on over there? She debated stopping to ask, but then the humming of units swooping overhead reminded her she was being chased and she sped back up to avoid getting jumped. Rounding the Spire further on, she blinked at Sanjay firing rapidly into the air, dropping aerial units faster than Anti-Cosmo was doing on his own. Helpful, true, but wasn't that supposed to be the anti-fairy's job? She questioned her fairy godfather on it.

"Hell, I don't know. He's probably scheming on how to use this whole set-up to help himself and his other little anti-fairy jerks." Apollo grumbled and lashed out with the scimitar to knock aside a fairy capture unit, "We'd better hurry up and move on to the next section! I don't think Sanjay's paying much attention to us!" Trixie nodded and darted on past the Hindu's shooting range into Elmer's zone of attack.

_"Freosan!"_ She heard Timmy's voice yell out within the range of the former Boil Kid. Trixie cried in alarm and raced faster to reach the brunet as he threw out a hand and sent several nullifiers crashing into the concrete, shattering on impact.

"Apollo! Can you grant wishes now?" she exclaimed as she pulled up to the mass of silver units swarming around the young immortal.

"There are still some nullifiers around us, so nope." the fairy returned, slashing away several more fairy capture units, "Get rid of what's around us and him, then make a wish!"

"Hey, Timmy! Need a hand?" the Asian called out with a laugh, leaping in and smashing her feet together into a ground nullifier. The brunet looked over at her in surprise, then managed a grin and nodded.

"Sure! The sooner we get rid of these things, the sooner I can lay out a few spells to keep up our defense." he returned and swung the staff in his hands at another unit, "Just watch your back, okay? These things are still locking onto the hairs on our armor!"

"Got it!" Trixie laughed and laid into her own set of units with rapid punches and kicks. This was way better than just running around aimlessly! She grinned to herself. If she could show off just how well she could do in battle, that might be enough to get Timmy's attention back to her. She glanced up at her fairy godfather with the same grin and Apollo matched it, nodding eagerly. A wish he couldn't grant for her; she should try her best to grant it herself.

.

Tootie studied the model on her armband as she made her way to A.J.'s side. The Spire had flickered once or twice since last time she looked at it, but it wasn't reacting the way it should with so much activity going on. Reaching the technical genius and the fallen android, she pointed out that fact to A.J.

"I told Timmy about it, but he just said it was because we weren't moving enough. What do you think?" she asked him.

"I dunno. Maybe it has something to do with what Caleb said before he shut down on us." A.J. returned, working at something within the android with his tools in hand, "He said that there were two hundred units unaccounted for." He held out a hand suddenly, "Bracelet." Tootie frowned as she slipped one of the aionis trinkets from her wrist and placed it in his open palm.

"Funny. Chester said the same thing. There are two hundred units that are missing from our counts. Timmy said those were from the units we wished to Mars." she remarked and winced at the sound of metal scraping something crystalline coming from the interior of the android.

"That's impossible. Timmy didn't see those units, right? The two of you wished about three hundred ground destroyers to Mars. We're missing way less from this Spire." A.J. corrected, "He might be immortal, but he still misses the big picture." He held out his hand again. "Other bracelet."

"Do you think that this Spire knows something about how we took out the last one and did something to protect itself against a server overload?" Tootie asked as she slipped the other bracelet off and handed it to him. A.J. shrugged as he went back to work.

"After all the crap I've seen and learned recently, I wouldn't be surprised. If that's the case, then we'll have to figure out how the Spires are learning from us and make them stop it so we won't have setbacks like this all the time."

_"Nullifier count down to sixty! Way to go, Sanjay! Most of them are still chasing the fairies, so anyone with magic down here can cast a few spells to help us out!"_ Chester called out suddenly. Tootie yelped and turned around to scan for the units that had been chasing her. Most of them had reversed direction and headed clockwise around the tower, scrambling for the next-nearest magic-user.

"I don't see any nullifiers near us, so I'll just pick off these ones with _Holy Lance_!" she exclaimed and held out her dagger, aiming it at the crowd of silver still swarming the pavement in their search for magical creatures, _"Radiant swords, descend from the heavens! Holy Lance!"_ Nothing. Tootie blinked and looked at her hands in alarm. She hadn't been able to feel the mana flowing into her, and the spell didn't even start up for her! "Hey! What happened to my magic?" she cried.

"Let's ask Caleb." A.J. remarked as he closed the panel, "What was that password again? Oh, yeah. Good morning, Caleb!" The android's eyes opened, glowing faintly as power returned to his systems.

"Welcome. Please state your business." he returned automatically and blinked in surprise. He sat up, one hand over the opened jacket he wore. "Wh-what? I'm active again? How? The mana crystals had cracked; there wasn't enough power to reactivate me..." he questioned, baffled.

"I did it!" A.J. crowed, "I managed to jerry-rig magitechnology! How cool is that?"

"Well, now figure out how to give me back my magic! I can't cast anything!" Tootie yelled in frustration. Caleb stared at them both.

"You... jerry-rigged me?" he echoed in disbelief, "How?"

"The markings on the metal in your body reminded me of Tootie's bracelets, and you said that stuff channeled mana around. So, I borrowed Tootie's bracelets to connect the three gems in your body together and start a power cycle to re-energize at least one of them. That was enough to get your systems back online, which I figured that weird shimmer over the metals was supposed to mean." A.J. returned scientifically, "It was all a matter of logic, really." Tootie cried in disbelief.

"Ah! My bracelets are **inside** Caleb?" she wailed.

"She needed those to cast magic." the android remarked and rubbed his head, still confused, "I don't believe this. A child managed to gain rudimentary knowledge of my personal magitechnological systems as well as use unorthodox measures to field-repair them? That should have been impossible!"

"I want my bracelets back!" Tootie yelled at A.J., "I can't cast magic without those!"

"Caleb, Tootie says that the Spire isn't responding to the attack the way it should. Do you think it has something to do with those two hundred units that are missing?" the African-American asked, ignoring the temper tantrum the young Goth was throwing at the moment.

"I don't really know. I just know from what I discovered of the numbers that we aren't accounting for two hundred anti-magic units. I have no idea what type they are, but they're mixed in with the other units somehow." Caleb returned in a puzzled tone. He stood and straightened his clothing before looking around the field. "We're losing track of the plan. A.J., you should go back to your position; Tootie, regain the attentions of those units and have them resume chasing you. You still have those strands of Cosmo's hair; why haven't they been chasing after you?" Tootie shrugged helplessly and looked around. Devices were scattered all over the lot, most of them downed nullifiers and there was an occasional destroyer or fairy trap littering the ground.

_"Hey! We're down to less than a minute! Come on! Come on! Don't stop now!"_ Timmy's voice reported over the Fenton Phones, _"Cosmo! Wanda! Lure the units from the air closer down to us! We'll finish off whatever Anti-Cosmo didn't get!"_

_"Look, I told you I was doing my absolute best at picking off these bloody infuriating excuses for trash disposal devices! It's not **my** fault I don't have the power to knock them all aside in a single blow!"_ Anti-Cosmo screamed in frustration. Tootie held up her Adventurer's Map and stared at the model of the Spire.

"Less than a minute and the Spire isn't anywhere near to overloading the server system." she murmured, "This plan is gonna fail!"

* * *

Master Control Spire~

"Almost out of nullifiers. Soon, you'll just be burning yourselves out playing Maypole with the Dark Spire." Crocker mused softly as he watched the model on the screen, "And then..."

_"Aren't you going to do something about that miserable mongrel and his blasted little pack of rats?"_ Remy snapped from the vid-conference window, _"They're going to destroy my beautiful Spire!"_

"And I've told you already that the Squadron Control units are preventing a server overload. No matter how long they continue trying to bombard the server system with data, they'll fail at it and they won't be able to enter the Spire due to the traps placed within it." the retired teacher told him dryly. He turned back to the model and smiled. "In the meantime, I'm just going to sit here and enjoy watching this." The blonde on the smaller monitor scowled.

_"Perhaps __**you**__ might get a kick out of watching that bothersome Neogene run circles around my towers, but I will not have him figure out how to destroy this one! Not when I've spent so much money getting those control units you praise so much built and online!"_ he growled and huffed,_ "If you're not going to do something about it, __**I**__ will!"_ With that the screen clicked off and Crocker was once again left to himself. He shrugged and continued watching the monitor.

"Go right ahead, boy. You'll only fail again when you pit yourself against the new Timmy. Just like you always failed when you stood against Turner." he murmured and tapped his fingers together, "Such blessed little children..."

* * *

Dark Spire Four~

"Hey, guys? We've got a problem here." Chester reported as he stared down at the detector, a laser pistol still gripped in one hand, "We're just about out of nullifiers, but the Spire's cranking out more. We've got a batch of fifteen of 'em waltzing out their front door!"

_"What? But the countdown...!"_ Timmy exclaimed in shock, _"The clock ran out? What the heck-? The Spire is still going? The units haven't fallen? What's going on?"_

_"I knew it! There's something wrong here! This Dark Spire isn't getting enough data to overload!"_ Tootie called out, _"We have to figure out what's stopping the Server Control System from receiving the signals from the other units!"_

Chester fired several shots onto the new wave of nullifiers stomping through the entrance of the tower. The air was still filled with aerial devices, swooping lower to the ground as the fairies rushed down to get close to Timmy for whatever he had planned up at the time. The ground units were still racing around in attempts to get to a magic-user of one sort or another. The plan that had worked before on the previous Spire had obviously failed; what was less obvious was why.

_"Chester! Stay where you are! Don't let any of those new nullifiers get through! Sanjay, A.J.! If you're clear in your zones, go help Chester! Anti-Cosmo! Come on! What are you talking about, not enough power?"_ the brunet yelled out, _"You're using negative magic! It's not nullified!"_

_"Does it matter? Just get these things away from me! They keep mistaking me for that utter moron of a double of mine!"_

"Man, this is all goin' to hell in a real bad way." Chester grumbled, lifting the laser gun once more to aim at the new nullifiers that rushed to get out of the Spire and join the fray, "What more can screw this night up?"

.

Romi flitted down to join her godchild, sweeping the air with her fans to knock aside the last few aerial nullifier units. The countdown had ended sometime ago, but the system remained online and worse still, the Spire had begun producing additional nullifiers to make up for the falling units. Tootie looked up at her in relief.

"Oh, good! I can't use magic anymore so I need to stick to wishes for now." the young Goth sighed and began to jog towards the cluster of units where she was sure Timmy was busy fighting, "Come on! Let's go give Timmy some support! I still have the Laser Blade and the dagger Vicky gave me!"

"Why can't you use magic?" Romi asked in alarm.

"I gave my bracelets to A.J. so he could fix Caleb and it turns out that I can't use magic without 'em." Tootie replied and jumped at a passing unit, slashing into it with the ancient sword to cut it in two, "And we still don't know why the Spire isn't stopping!"

"Where's Caleb?" Romi questioned, looking around frantically, "Can't he give you another pair so you can go back to using spells?"

"He had to back out 'cause A.J. said that the jerry-rigging wasn't supposed to last very long. We have to get Timmy to figure out what's up with the two hundred missing units and the still active servers!" the young Goth returned breathlessly, "I have a feeling the two of them are connected somehow!"

.

The last nullifier in the surrounding squadron of units finally fell to Timmy's staff and he held out his free hand, focusing on the units around him. He couldn't have them destroyed, not when he needed them to signal the servers, so he forced his own personal mana supply outward in a rush of wind that sent them all tumbling away several yards. Exhausted by that effort, he used the staff as a support, looking up at the two fairies and the single anti-fairy that fluttered in the air before him.

"All the nullifiers on this side are gone, but the Spire is making new ones." he reported and looked aside at Trixie as she blinked at the sudden whisking away of her punching 'bags', "Anyone have any ideas on what to do now? 'Cause we were **supposed** to be having it easy by now!"

"You're going to blame this on me, aren't you?" Anti-Cosmo snapped agitatedly, "I told you I couldn't take on all of those things at once!" He folded his arms in a huff. "But then you probably think I'm lying about that, don't you?"

"Okay, so I was being too harsh. Sorry." the brunet apologized, "But I was kind of hoping for more of a fight out of you when it came to them."

"And **I** said I didn't have the power!" the anti-fairy returned bitingly, "You don't listen well, do you? I am the opposite of Cosmo, get it? **He** is a complete idiot, but powerful enough to have the Fairy Academy salivating at the idea of gaining control over him! **I** am the most intellectually advanced anti-fairy in the universe. What do you think that means for me?" Timmy blinked at him.

"Um... no magic power to match?" he answered dumbly.

"My God, he's such a bright boy." Anti-Cosmo remarked dryly, glancing sidelong at Cosmo and Wanda, "You must be so proud." The fairy couple only glared at him in unison.

"The units are coming back fast! The servers haven't shut down!" Trixie wailed in alarm, "Timmy! What do we do? We need a new plan!" Her words were echoed by Tootie as the young Goth arrived with sword and dagger in hand. Both girls looked to him in desperation, with Trixie giving him a hopeful gaze and Tootie crying out that the whole thing must have something to do with the two hundred unaccounted units. He sighed in frustration.

"I wish I knew what was going on!" he growled harshly and Cosmo and Wanda waved their wands instinctively. A shot fired overhead and the three teens jumped in shock as a unit crashed down nearby.

_"Sorry! My fault! That thing just floated into my firing range!"_ Elmer apologized. Timmy stared at the fallen unit, baffled by its appearance, while Tootie lifted her armband with some amount of confusion. The model of the Spire had flashed rapidly for a second or two, then went back to being unlit.

"What the heck is this thing?" Timmy asked, jabbing at the fallen unit with the end of his staff. Trixie scratched her head and shrugged. The strange device had a pair of antennae coming off of it, as well as two stripes of black decorating the silver hull. It didn't look like any anti-magic unit they'd ever seen before. "I'm not getting a sick feeling from it, so it's not a nullifier. No weapons, so it's not a destroyer. And there's no net, so it's not a fairy capture unit." the brunet muttered and looked over at Tootie, "Is this what you were talking about when you said there were units we couldn't identify?"

"Yeah, and the Spire registered a lot of activity when it got taken down, but then it went back to ignoring the other units." the young Goth returned and her eyes widened, "Hey! I think I get it now! These weird units must be doing something to keep the Server Control System from getting too much data!" Anti-Cosmo flew down to peer at the machine himself.

"It must act as a filter of sorts." he remarked and touched his palm to the device, jerking it back with a pained cry, "Yeowch! Hot, hot, hot!" He shot away from it and blew on his hand.

"And you said there were two hundred of these things, right?" Timmy asked Tootie seriously.

"A hundred-ninety-nine now." she returned, waving at the fallen unit. The brunet grinned fiercely and touched fingertips to the Fenton Phones.

"Guys! Change in plan! We have a new target for you to take out!" he exclaimed.

* * *

Victoria's Charity Babysitters~

Victoria stepped into the van at the office garage and drove it out onto the streets, ignoring most of the traffic lights and speed limits as she headed into the southeastern district. The sooner she picked up the babysitter at her client's place, the sooner she could go back to waiting for Tootie to show up. She glanced at her watch and frowned; maybe not, it was getting close to curfew and if Tootie arrived before her, then she'd be in bed and Victoria wouldn't have any fun for the night.

"Of all the lousy, rotten nights to do this on..." she grumbled under her breath as she swerved around corners and took as many shortcuts and detours as possible to shorten her travel time. To hell with what the law said about safe driving, she was **not** gonna wind up going to bed late just because of some girl not wanting to freak out at hearing the ghost of Chip Skylark moon-crooning from a drainage ditch!

There was the sound of rapid fire that suddenly cut into the night sky and Victoria hit the brakes, bringing the van to a screeching halt. What was that? It didn't sound like gunfire she had ever heard of, more like lasers from a _Star Wars_ movie at the local drive-in theater. But the theater had closed down long ago, so what was making that sound? Victoria debated just shrugging it off and continuing her mad dash for the client's house, or finding out what that sound was and where it came from.

Leaning out the window of her van, she listened again for the noise, twisting her head and narrowing her eyes as the laser fire went off again and it seemed to be in the direction of one of those black towers. Lasers and a Dark Spire, what a stupid combination.

Well, not so stupid if the reason lasers at a Dark Spire were going off was because Timmy was attacking it. Victoria relaxed a moment, then tensed again. Lasers being fired at Timmy? Could the twerp heal a laser blast if he got hit? Well, he was immortal, so it shouldn't kill the kid, right? ...But wait! The carrot-top's eyes widened as her mind made another leap in logic. Wherever Timmy was, Tootie would be there, too! And Victoria knew damn well her little sister was **not** immune to Death!

_"Little son of a...!"_ she snarled and hit the gas, flooring the van as she tore down another alley and made a beeline for the Dark Spire in the distance. He could fall and break his own neck again if he felt like it, but the world be damned if he got her sister dragged into purgatory with him!

* * *

Dark Spire Four~

"A.J., please explain to me why it is we have infrared targeting systems built into our laser guns?" Sanjay asked as he, Elmer, Chester and A.J. all lifted their rifles and took aim at the renewed spiral of units chasing Timmy, the girls and the fairies all around the Spire.

"Because I thought it would be useful! Now start shooting anything that registers high in the heat vision!" A.J. retorted, "According to Timmy and Tootie, the signals from the units are being passed through to these weird new units and that's what's been keeping the Spire from picking up the data! If we get rid of them, the Spire will be forced to reconnect with the anti-magic devices and will start to overload like last time!"

The air filled with bursts of laser as units passed them by in their mad dash to capture or destroy the group of 'fairies' evading them all around the Spire. Anti-Cosmo had been re-regulated to baiting units as well, mainly due to the fact that his DNA was exactly the same as Cosmo's but also because he wanted to spend more time building up the misery factor for Remy.

Several of the strange units fell and Chester noticed that the Dark Spire had halted the production of new nullifier units. He mentioned it to the rest of the team and Timmy laughed at the report.

_"I get it now! Yeah, it would have to stop making them! Now that we're taking out these new units, the Spire doesn't want too many of them out or else it's gonna add on to the overload we're gonna give it!"_ he declared, _"We're gonna win this one easy! Nothing can possibly go wro-!"_

The rest of the sentence was cut off by cries of shock and alarm as an explosion went off near the southern end of the lot. The Others stopped firing and looked at one another in alarm. What had happened? They called out to the brunet and girls, hoping for an answer.

_"Remy! Guys! Help!"_ Trixie cried out in shock, _"Se-cur-i-ty!"_

.

The revised plan had been going so smoothly, and with all of the team members that either possessed strands of Cosmo's hair or were actually fairies themselves luring the squadrons of anti-magic units in a game of Tag things were starting to look up again.

And then a blast of magic erupted near them and sent the group scattering and tumbling to the ground once more. Stunned by the attack, they blinked up at the night sky dazedly, the fairies picking themselves up with their faster recovery time. Trixie was the first to regain her senses and immediately shrieked at their attacker.

"Remy! It's Remy!" she exclaimed and one hand flew up to her ear, "Remy! Guys! Help!" And then, just because it was a habit for her to yell for additional backup, she added in a pointless, "Se-cur-i-ty!"

"Oh, for God's sake, you fired that man two years ago." Apollo grumbled, pulling one hand over his face.

"What?" the brunet exclaimed in alarm, responding to Trixie's initial scream as smoke began clearing from the blast radius. He touched fingers to his own Fenton Phones. "Cosmo! Get out of here! Anti-Cosmo! You bail, too! Keep him from showing back up! If Remy sees Cosmo with me, my cover's blown!" he whispered fiercely.

_"Got it. Make him miserable for me! I need a good meal after all this!"_ Anti-Cosmo returned and two fairy figures shot away into the distance before the smoke could fade completely and expose them.

"Why am I not surprised to see you all here?" Remy Buxaplenty growled as he stepped through the last of the dissipating smoke, his fairy godfather floating beside him. Timmy and Tootie both stood with Trixie, staring at the teen millionaire in astonishment. Remy had come onto the battlefield in his own set of armor, a pure white suit that mirrored their own black magitech armor. In one hand, he gripped onto a slender rapier; a small grenade was nestled in the other. "Last time, you got away from me because of that stupid little fairy and that trailer trash getting in the way." he growled at the brunet, "But tonight is going to be different! I will not allow you to destroy my precious Spire! Not when I've invested so much money into the new defense measures!" He hurled the second grenade at the group with an enraged yell.

_"Boltzman's Shield!"_ Timmy cried, hurling out his hand to conjure the crystal and dome to protect the two girls from the blast as both dove for him. The explosion rippled over the shield, filling the air with still more smoke as he dropped the field to regain his bearings. "What the heck-?" Another shriek of fury as Remy shot through the smoke to lash at the group with the rapier, the blade blocked quickly by the heavy brass of the Thunder Scepter as Timmy moved to intercept the attack. "Tootie! Trixie! Run! Keep the units moving to the rest of the guys! Wanda! Get Juandissimo out of the way!" he yelled out, sweeping the sword down and away to break the block, only to have to lash back with the staff to fend off still more strikes.

"Magic is available with the nullifiers gone! We'll help get rid of those new units with wishes!" Tootie exclaimed as she and the raven-haired Popular rushed away, "Be careful!"

"Juandissimo! I wish that those girls won't be able to wish away the control units!" Remy yelled out as Wanda flew in to distract the Latino fairy, "And I wish I had two clones of myself to stop them from attacking the units!"

"Tell me I'm beautiful!" Wanda declared, circling Juandissimo rapidly as he lifted his wand to grant the wishes. He scowled, startling her with the unusual response.

"My delicate little flower, you _are_ beautiful. But you broke my sexy heart with those lies!"he returned and waved the wand, sending a pair of Remy duplicates racing after Tootie and Trixie. He sniffed melodramatically, then looked over at the pink-haired fairy, "However, given all that has happened, I shall forgive and forget, my little slice of heaven." He wiped the false tear away, then lifted his wand with new determination. "But the fact remains that Cosmo is still alive!" the Latino growled, waving the wand a second time and replacing it with a rapier of his own, "You may have been pardoned for allowing your godchild to die, but your husband still has to pay the penalty for it! And this universe will be safer without him in it!" He shot off into the air as Wanda uttered a cry of shock, then a second in horror as she caught on to what he meant.

"No! No, no, no!" the pink-haired fairy wailed and flew after him, desperate to stop him or beat him to the escaping fairy and anti-fairy.

.

"I wish this unit was gone!" Trixie declared, pointing at one of the strange new anti-magic devices as it floated by a small squadron of destroyers and traps. Apollo waved his wand, then yelped as it fell limp in his hand.

"I can't grant it! Something's blocking the wish!" he cried in alarm. The Asian stared at him in shock. "There aren't any nullifiers to do it, and the Spire's nullifier is too high up to completely stop strong magic, so the only other thing I can think of that stops us is someone else used a wish to interfere!"

"Oh, great! So now we have to get rid of them the old fashioned way?" Trixie sighed harshly, "And we have way over a hundred before the Spire can even start to shut down!" She tightened her fist around the metal bar attached to her gloves and swung for the first strange unit she spotted. A cry of alarm escaped her mouth as a white-gloved hand reached out and grabbed her fist, stopping her attack dead. "Hey!" she exclaimed and looked aside at the blonde Popular glaring furiously at her, "I thought you were busy with Timothy!"

"That's the problem with pretty girls; they always think wrong!" Remy snarled and grabbed onto her arm, hurling the Asian over his shoulder and slamming her into the ground.

"Hey! You can't do that to my godchild!" Apollo shrieked in a fury, "Trixie! Make a wish! I want a piece of this creep!"

The girl moaned painfully from where she lay on her back, then gasped and quickly rolled aside as Remy followed up the body slam with a punch that slammed into the concrete and cracked it under the force of the blow. Staring at it in horror, Trixie scrambled to her feet and quickly took up a new stance, anti-magic devices buzzing around her in attempts to plan an attack of their own.

"How did you do that?" she cried.

"This armor was wished up to be indestructible, increase my strength, speed, and agility, as well as match my distinguishing features perfectly." Remy returned smugly, "More than a match for that ratty piece of garbage you're prancing around in!" He glanced up at Juandissimo flying past and grinned. "Juandissimo! I wish Trixie's armor was gone!" he called out and the fairy halted to wave his wand in response. It fell limp almost immediately and the fairy glared at it, then at Trixie.

"I am afraid that it is impossible to wish away that armor! That child is being rendered immune to my magic!" he declared irritably.

"Why?" the clone Remy demanded, matching Trixie's stance with one of his own as he pulled his rapier from the sheath at his waist.

"I don't know and I don't have time right now! I'm hunting!" Juandissimo growled and shot off again, followed soon after by Wanda.

"Doesn't matter. I'll finish you off myself!" the clone sneered at Trixie.

"Not if I get rid of you first! Apollo! I wish this clone would go away!" the Asian declared loudly. Apollo waved his wand with a grin, then yelped as the wand went limp.

"No good! According to Da Rules, clones can only be wished away by the one who wished for them in the first place, and only if all the clones are in the same place as the kid who wished for 'em!" he exclaimed as the book for Da Rules blossomed before him, page already open to display the restriction, "We're going to have to deal with him another way!"

"Oh, great." Trixie muttered, glaring at the blonde as he shot after her, sword at the ready.


	13. Chapter 13

13

Sparks of orange and gold flew each time brass and steel clashed together. With Remy bringing the full brunt of his sword around with every swing, Timmy found himself having difficulty keeping the blade from hitting him directly. Especially when anti-magic units kept diving down at him in attempts to hook their nets over his head or slam a blade of some kind into it.

"Yah! Agh! Hah!" the brunet exclaimed in a startled tone, jumping back to throw his hand out at the units as they swooped in on him again, _"Gail Fortia!"_ A second blast of wind hurled the devices back, though the moment of distraction allowed Remy to thrust the rapier ahead of him, catching part of the stealth outfit and tearing the fabric away.

"Stop moving so I can finish you off!" the blonde growled, pressing the attack.

"With what? That dinky little toothpick of yours?" Timmy shot back angrily, blocking the next swing with the Thunder Scepter, "You can't get through the armor no matter how hard you try!" He stepped back from the blonde, losing ground as Remy struck at the staff with the rapier almost erratically. The blonde laughed harshly, gasping for air between dark chuckles.

"Oh, I'm not trying to puncture your stupid outfit, you mongrel." he sneered, slamming the blade onto the Thunder Scepter again, then pressing his weight down onto it, "Just this!" The white armor Remy wore glowed softly and Timmy cried in alarm at the sight of the brass staff buckling under the stress. It snapped and he stumbled, falling back against the concrete as the broken pieces clattered to the ground beside him.

"Ow! Hey!" he yelped and glared up at the blonde standing over him as arrogantly as the Spire. "Big whoop. So you broke my staff; who cares?" Timmy growled, carefully shifting position on the ground, "I can work just fine without it! No nullifiers means I can use magic all I want!"

"No you don't!" Remy snapped, swinging the sword around to strike again. The brunet leaped out of the way, spheres of red-gold already forming quickly in his hands.

_"Bulla Scintillare!"_ The flash grenades rained down around the blonde, sending blasts of smoke and light into the air. Touching back down, Timmy watched the billowing clouds tensely, searching for any sign that could mean the teen millionaire had been taken out of the game. He grew a bit worried. "Did I overdo it with that one?" he murmured, tilting his head slightly, "Maybe I should have used..."

Sudden quick footsteps skittered across the concrete and the smoke burst apart, revealing the singed young millionaire as he shot out of the blast zone right for the brunet. Timmy barely had time for an astonished cry before being tackled by Remy. The two slammed into the ground, sending another eruption of dust and rubble into the air. As the grit finally began to settle, a figure pulled itself from the miniature crater and stood, waving clouds of smoke and dust away.

"Bloody filthy lots...!" Remy grumbled irritably, face streaked with grime and pristine white armor no longer so pristine, "I should either fire the maintenance crew or hire one if I don't have a set of them already working for me!" He sniffled, sneezed, then rubbed at his nose, muttering under his breath. "Ah, well." he finally sighed, then grinned as he looked back at the small chasm that had been broken into the concrete from the force of the blow, "At least I was able to get one of these annoying pests out of my hair! Ha, hah!" He waved a finger in mock reproach at the unconscious brunet curled against broken rubble. "I warned you not to come against me in this town, but you were foolish not to pay heed!" Remy jeered, "In the city of Dimmsdale, _my_ power will always prevail!"

.

When wishes didn't work, Tootie resorted to the Laser Blade, slashing at each strange-looking unit she could find and ducking as one of the floating device's eyes flickered rapidly and sent several aerial units swooping down on her. Romi lashed out with her fans, dancing around the young Goth defensively as the two continued working on the strange units near them.

"Chester! How are we doing on these weird units?" she called out, stepping about in a frenzy to keep the ground destroyers from laying into her.

_"Down to about eighty! Keep it up! Hey, Tricks! Nice moves! Waste that guy! Hey! Nail him one for me, 'kay?"_ the blonde Other declared. Tootie sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Such a goofball." she murmured and swung the blade again, yelping in shock as a white-gloved hand reached out and grabbed her wrists, "Hey! What the heck?" She found herself being lifted off the ground, kicking her feet as she was brought face to face with Remy Buxaplenty himself. "Wha-? But you were fighting with Timothy when I left!" Tootie cried in alarm, "What happened?"

"Why deal with you little buggers one at a time when a wish for more of me can get rid of you all at once?" the clone Remy purred and hurled her aside, sending Romi flitting after her godchild in a panic.

"Eeeks! Tootie! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Let me see!" the raven-haired fairy wailed, circling Tootie rapidly as the girl picked herself up with a soft groan of pain.

"I'm fine, Romi..." she growled and glared up at the blonde marching towards her with his own sword in hand, "It's **this** nut-job who's gonna be needing to wish himself a new butt once I'm done kicking it!" She held the Laser Blade and dagger out defensively, sidestepping around the white-armored teen. "Chester! A.J.! Sanjay, Elmer! You guys get rid of the last few units! I'm gonna take Remy down!" Tootie called into the Fenton Phones.

_"But Trixie is already fighting with Remy! I can see it from here! She's laying in with punches when she can, but he's pressing back with a sword or something!"_ A.J. returned in surprise. Tootie lashed out suddenly with her laser sword, blocking an incoming attack from the clone Remy's rapier.

"It's a magic copy! Remy's wished up a couple of clones and I'm dueling one of 'em! Timothy's dealing with the real Remy!" she yelled back, jumping back and dodging quick stabs and thrusts of the older teen's sword as he began forcing her away from the other units. "Romi! Keep the other units away from me! I wish you would keep fighting the other units!"

"But what about you? I can't let you get hurt!" Romi wailed, fluttering wildly overhead as she ducked her own problems, the fairy capture traps diving down on her and Tootie as they sought out magical creatures.

"I'll be fine! Just grant my wish!" Tootie shouted and yelped as the clone moved swiftly around her and slashed across her back with the steel edge of his own sword. Falling forward, she moaned softly in pain, thankful that the durable mythril mesh of the magitech armor prevented serious damage to her body. In any other instance, that blow would probably have killed or, or just crippled her if she were lucky. Romi screamed once, but was forced to pull away and battle the anti-magic units swarming around her godchild. Tootie had wished it and like it or not, she had to grant the young Goth's wish.

"Unlike your wish-immune friend, you are most definitely **not** immortal." the Remy duplicate sneered as he walked up to her, sword ready for another strike. Tootie flipped onto her back and scowled at the blonde, scooting backwards away from him with her own weapons still in her grip. "You've always had a thing for that Turner brat, right? Well, let me grant you the only wish a fairy can't do for you, and send you straight off to meet him in eternity!" he crowed, lifting the rapier for a final strike.

A shrill whistle pierced the air, startling both Tootie and the Remy clone as they looked around for the source of the sound.

_"Readyyy? Heeyah!"_ Victoria's voice shrieked and the duplicate was suddenly flung away as the carrot-top slammed shoulder first into his chest in a forceful rush attack. Stopping abruptly by digging in her heels, the woman glared at the blonde as he slammed into a crowd of silvery units. "Stay the hell away from my sister, or I'll rip you a new one so wide, rush hour traffic can drive through it!" the former babysitter snapped and turned around to scowl down at Tootie, fists resting against her waist where a pair of sword sheaths rested, "And **you** had better have a damn good reason for being out here!"

"Vicky!" Tootie exclaimed joyfully, leaping up and throwing her arms around the older woman in a hug, "Thanks for the save, but what are you doing here?"

"Getting you out. C'mon, let's blow this joint; I got beauty sleep to catch up on!" Victoria growled, "And call me Victoria! 'Vicky' is a kiddie name!" Tootie stepped back and shook her head.

"We can't go until we destroy the Spire! I'm helping Timmy stop the units, but these weird new ones are keeping us from doing it!" the young Goth blurted out and pointed at one of the floating spheres with its antennae and dual lights. "Those things, the units that look like that. As long as there's even one of them still working, Timmy can't take down this Spire!" Victoria glared at it with narrowed eyes and pulled the swords from her sides.

"Then I'll handle them! You get to the van at the end of the lot and get my phone! Call the cops or something, just get to someplace safe!" she shot back.

"No way! We can't get the police involved and I have to face off against the Remy clone!" Tootie declared fiercely, snatching up her laser sword and dagger again, "Come on! We're a team, right? You help the boys take out those units and I'll keep Remy from attacking either of us!" She smiled up at the carrot-top, "After all, you're the one who taught me how to fight and how to kick somebody when they're down! Well, Remy's down right now and my feet are itching to dig into him!" Victoria stared down at her, then looked over at the rising figure of the blonde, taking in his infuriated scowl and disheveled appearance.

"All right, twerp, but I hear one more scream outta you that I didn't cause and we are piling in the van and boosting!" she growled and dashed after the anti-magic units.

"Thanks, Vicky." Tootie murmured gratefully and turned a fierce smile at the approaching clone, "Okay, you! Let's try this again!"

.

Flying away from the battlefield was difficult for both fairy and anti-fairy to do. Each of them had reasons for wanting to stay, but an order was an order, even if it technically wasn't a wish and for the other, there was no concrete reason to obey that order. Anti-Cosmo stopped at last, sighing tiredly as he took the time to rest and use a nearby streetlight as a perch to allow his wings the opportunity to recover. Cosmo continued hovering nearby, watching the streaks of light and billowing clouds of smoke that covered the lot in the distance. The anti-fairy glanced over at the Spire, sighed again, then turned back to his light-hearted half.

"Despite all I say and do, I really do envy you. Did you realize that?" Anti-Cosmo asked quietly, folding his arms up and tapping his wand against them. The green-haired fairy blinked and looked up at him, puzzled. "Never mind." Anti-Cosmo muttered and shook his head, "So, care to explain why our dear Timothy is so adamant about keeping you away from that Remy twit? He mentioned something about not exposing himself, but I hazard a guess and venture it has more to do with keeping you away from that Juandissimo fellow I've heard about."

"You hazard correctly." Cosmo returned in an oddly cold voice, "And if you refer to a shared bond with Timothy again, I'll show you what I intend to do to Juandissimo if given half a chance." The anti-fairy gave him an alarmed stare.

"That was far too intellectual a response than I know you're capable of, Cosmo. Have you lost your senses?" he exclaimed and the fairy seemed to snap back to his normal self, eyes wide with surprise.

"Did I say something?" he asked in a baffled tone and rubbed his head, wincing, "Ow. My head hurts. When do I get ice cream to make it better?" Anti-Cosmo sighed and shook his head.

"Never mind." he muttered and looked aside at the Spire again, blinking as he noticed streaks of violet and pink light shooting towards them, "My word, your wife is moving ungodly fast. Wait, wasn't she supposed to be with Timothy?" Cosmo nodded, puzzled as Juandissimo and Wanda halted before the fairy and anti-fairy. "Wanda! What is going _on_ here? We're told to evacuate the battlefield and then you bring the mess to us?" the anti-fairy snapped, jumping to his feet on the streetlight.

"Cosmo! Fly away! Juandissimo's trying to carry out the original Fairy World sentence on you!" Wanda exclaimed in a panic, waving her arms at him before turning to beat on the Latino fairy's head with her wand, "Get away! Leave us alone! Fairy World declared us both to be banished, so you have no right to do this!"

"_Mi amor_, this is what should have happened and you know it!" Juandissimo declared melodramatically and twirled the rapier in his hand before striking a pose with it, glaring at the green-haired fairy floating several feet from him, "He is a danger to everyone and everything around him! This is for the good of the universe and for the good of our future together, my delicate little flower!" Cosmo stuck out his tongue in displeasure.

"You still can't pass judgment on him!" Wanda yelled furiously, "You don't have the right! You don't even have the power!"

"Oh please. Even if it came from your sweet lips, those words insult me." the Latino fairy remarked haughtily, "Besides, he is an absolute idiot. What could he possibly do to me? Hit me with a pie? He probably thought that was an appropriate weapon for these dark times in Dimmsdale!"

"Actually," Cosmo returned suddenly, smiling at his rival in a far less pleasant way. He held out his wand and waved it, replacing it in a puff of magic smoke with the Windcutter Scythe, "I chose something that better suited my potential."

Both fairies froze at the sight of the gleaming silver blade and black handle. This was an unexpected response from the often cheerful and absent-minded fairy godfather. Juandissimo found himself wondering if his rushing into this situation made _him_ the dumb one in the group. Wanda only stared at her husband in horror, rooted to the space of air she floated in until she was jerked out of the way by Anti-Cosmo.

"I'm guessing this isn't normal for you either." he muttered under his breath, "How long has he been acting like this?"

"Since after Timmy's resurrection." Wanda whispered, "He jumps back and forth between light and dark, and he's been getting a lot of ideas and insights on things." Her face took on a worried expression. "It reminds me of what Dr. Rip Studwell told me. _'Keep track of his thoughts.'_ Cosmo isn't supposed to get a lot of good ideas..."

"No, he's not. That's why I was born; I hold the intelligence he had to give up to have what he does." the anti-fairy muttered, "It makes some sense for him to act like this, though I would have expected it to have occurred the last time he lost someone he cared for..."

"I'm sure that, maybe, we can talk things over like cultured, sexy men do!" Juandissimo exclaimed in forced cheerfulness, waving one hand at the fairy opposite him as the other quickly shoved the rapier into hiding behind his back.

"Wanda said you were going to pass judgment on me for what happened to Timmy, right?" Cosmo asked in an interested tone, "Fairy World wants me gone because of it, huh? That's kinda mean." He pouted as he gripped the scythe in both hands. "That's really mean of them," he added and flew back suddenly, whipping the scythe before him rapidly and sending air pressure shooting before him in a storm of invisible blades, "considering judgment **should** be passed on Fairy World for what they did to **me**!"

In a panic, Juandissimo flitted and darted around as many air blades as possible, yelping as one passed too close for comfort and sliced off part of his immaculate ponytail.

"Cosmo! Stop it! You're not supposed to use the Windcutter for that!" Wanda yelled out at him, waving her fist, "Cosmo! You idiot!" The rush of air stopped abruptly and the fairy flew back forward, scythe vanishing into the magical space it often disappeared to when not used.

"Okay, Wanda! How about _this_ then?" he exclaimed brightly and rolled into a tight ball as green light surrounded him, exploding outwards like the tail of a comet. Slamming into Juandissimo as he flapped about in wails, Cosmo sent the fairy flying straight back to the Spire. The comet of green spun in place, chasing its own tail, until the light faded and the fairy uncurled almost acrobatically, twirling his star-topped wand in one hand as he straightened out. "Didn't take very long, did it?" he asked his wife and anti-self with a vaguely smug grin, "Stupid, yeah, but I'm still powerful enough to pull a quick trick like that on the fly."

"And to think Fairy World publicly acknowledges **me** as the most dangerous creature they have to worry about." Anti-Cosmo chuckled, "Quite laughable..."

.

The Others kept up the spray of laser fire, blinking once as a fairy they dimly recognized as belonging to Remy shot across their sights and vanished, then again as Victoria darted into the fray, slamming blades against the units they had been firing on for the past few minutes.

"Hey, whoa! Vicky's here?" Chester exclaimed, "And she's _helping_ us? Dude! When the hell did we get killed?"

_"You're not dead! She came to bail me out but I convinced her to stay and help instead!"_ Tootie's voice reported breathlessly, _"She doesn't have armor on, so watch your shots! I'm dealing with this stupid clone that won't go away!"_

_"Eeeeyaaah! That hurts! Owowow! Let me go!"_ Trixie's own voice exclaimed painfully, _"Timothy! Help!"_

"That doesn't sound good! Isn't Apollo watching her back?" A.J. cried in alarm and called out to the fairy, "Yo! Apollo! What's going on over there?" No answer. Had something happened to the fairy?

"Damn. I'm goin' over there to check things out! Sanjay, keep Vicky covered! Elmer, go help Toots! A.J., check on Timmy! Make sure everyone's backs are covered!" Chester ordered quickly, "We barely got the idea that the Heart of Dimmsdale's back; let's not find out how much damage an immortal can take before he goes down for the count!" With that, he raced off in the direction of the raven-haired Popular, calling her name as he darted around ground units. The other boys looked at each other with eyebrows raised.

"And he was the one who went ballistic when I tried to put my moves on that one cute girl who visited Dimmsdale for a short while." A.J. sighed in exasperation, "I think he's got it worse. Well, come on, Elmer! Let's go!" The two of them raced off to defend the missing members of Team Turner, leaving Sanjay to continue using his expertise in armaments to keep Victoria safe.

.

Brushing off dust wasn't going to be all that easy considering how badly coated with grime the armor had become during that full-force body slam. Remy looked himself over disdainfully for what felt like the hundredth time. His pure white armor, ruined. Well, at least until he got it wished back to new condition. He smiled after a moment and looked back at the crater he had created in the magic-enhanced attack.

"I should send you a bill for the cleaners when it comes to this high-class, high-quality armor even though I can just wish it to perfection again." the blonde remarked to the limp figure of Timothy lying half-curled among the broken concrete. Remy looked around and set his arms akimbo, tapping a foot impatiently. "Where in blazes is that fairy now? Juandissimo! Are you still here?" he called out irritably and blinked in astonishment as a streak of violet came shooting at him from the distance far beyond the Dark Spire, "What? Juandissimo! What do you think you're doing?"

The violet shooting star exploded in a puff of smoke, revealing a very tired-looking Latino fairy fluttering before the teen millionaire. Somewhat battered, Juandissimo rubbed at his head and winced painfully.

"I suppose I should not have underestimated one who decimated Pompeii so easily, _sí_?" he sighed and shook himself off before flashing a smile at his godchild, "Ah, Remy, _mi amigo_! Had enough of this unsexy brawling with the less sexy children?"

"Actually, I would rather stay until I know these little mongrels have retreated like whipped dogs." Remy replied loftily and held out his arms to his sides, "And I wish my armor was perfect again!" Juandissimo looked around himself to be sure there really weren't any nullifiers around and that the remaining anti-magic units were busy locking onto the brunet on the ground, then waved his wand to grant the wish. "All in all, a good start to the night. I may have lost my nullifiers and a majority of the control units, but I did finally prove my superiority over that blasted Neogene!" Remy declared proudly, waving over at the young immortal.

"Oh, this isn't going to go over well with Wanda." Juandissimo groaned softly at the sight of Timmy just lying prone against the rubble, "Seeing this again is going to be so very painful for her." Remy huffed as he started walking back to the brunet.

"I might have lost the strands of hair before they could be fully processed and reveal your true identity, Neogene." he purred darkly, "But now I can gather all the evidence I need to find out who you are and strip away all that power you possess. Power that should go to the one who deserves it; me!" He began to reach out, jumping back as a shot passed near him. "Who dares attempt to fire on the new Heart of Dimmsdale?" he fumed, glaring aside in the direction the shot had come from.

"Get away from him!" A.J. Ibrahim yelled angrily and lifted the laser gun again, firing on several control units before spraying the air near Remy with warning shots, "Back off, or the next hit actually gets you!" The blonde growled angrily, stepping back as he took time to reassess the situation. "Timothy! Get up! Come on!"

"Looks like I'll have to deal with you next." Remy grumbled, "But first, let's get rid of that annoying armor of yours. Juandissimo! I wish that brat's armor was gone!" Juandissimo waved the wand and watched it fall limp with a frown.

"I'm afraid that the wish still doesn't work. Your clone tried the same thing earlier." he returned, "Something about them is blocking the wishes!" A.J. stopped by the brunet on the ground, grinning as he held the laser rifle at the ready.

"I figured as much! You can't do anything to us as long as we wear the new and improved magitech armor!" he declared proudly and placed a hand near the red symbol etched over his heart, "According to Da Rules, no other fairy's magic can touch anything that possesses a direct connection to or bears the name or likeness of Timmy Turner, Timothy Neogene, or the Heart of Dimmsdale! And thanks to all our work, this symbol is the official insignia of the true Heart of Dimmsdale, making all of us who wear it immune to your selfish wishes!"

"Oh, you cheating bastards! How dare you prance about before me in that horrendous thing!" Remy yelled in a fury, "Juandissimo! I wish I had an emblem on my armor just like that!" The fairy pondered it for a moment, then waved his wand once again. A black spade appeared on the teen millionaire's white armor, the boy's initials rendered in white within the center of the design.

"Just like you, Remy." A.J. grumbled, stepping closer to the brunet before him as he kept the rifle aimed, "Always copying. No wonder everyone refused to let you take Timmy's title; you're never going to leave Timmy's shadow!" Remy seemed to snap at that, dashing forward with a crazed shriek as he hefted the sword over his head to bring down on the super-genius's head.

The attack was blocked by a dome of crystal blue that suddenly bloomed over the African-American, sending Remy ricocheting backwards. A.J. blinked in surprise, then looked down at the brunet, lighting up with joy and relief as Timmy rose from the rubble, diamond prism floating over one hand while several red-gold spheres spiraled around the other.

"Your screaming woke me up. And I'm always a little cranky when I wake up." he grumbled, dropping the shield, _"Bulla Scintillare!"_ The spheres rained down on the blonde a second time.

"Juandissimo! I wish this armor had a force field!" Remy yelled out, covering his head as the fairy granted it quickly. A dome of crackling energy formed over the teen, blocking the flash grenades as they slammed into the shield.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be finishing off the last of these 'control units' Remy was yelling about!" Timmy called back to his friend.

"Chester split us up to cover everyone! Tootie and Trixie are having troubles with the clones of Remy and Sanjay's finishing off the units with Vicky!" A.J. exclaimed.

"_What?_ Victoria is here? Why? How?" Timmy yelled in alarm as the shield around Remy dropped. The other teen shook his head.

"I don't know, but Tootie says that she's here to help destroy the control units! The problem is she's not armored like us, so if she's hit by any of the destroyers...!" he exclaimed. Timmy clenched his teeth as he finished the words.

"Vicky could be killed by them! No way!" he cried and touched fingers to the Fenton Phones, "Wanda! Can you hear me?"

_"Uh, yes! I'm on my way back to you!"_ the fairy replied.

"I wish the armor I'm wearing was put on Vicky! It's the unmodified version, so it should stretch to fit her, and get rid of Cosmo's hair so she's not overwhelmed by the other units scanning for it." Timmy whispered into the Phones, "Hurry! Remy's still blinded by the smoke from the _Bulla Scintillare_, but it won't last long! He can't see me be affected by your magic!"

_"But give her your armor? Without it, you won't have protection against the destroyers yourself!"_

"I can still just heal myself! Besides, once it's gone, I won't have units on me like flies!" Timmy griped.

_"That's... Oh, dear..."_ A blast of pink smoke surrounded the brunet and he felt the mythril mesh of the armor vanish.

"Was that really such a good idea?" A.J. asked worriedly. The smoke nearby burst apart as Remy shot out with sword in hand, yelling in a fury.

"Get on those units and let me worry over that!" Timmy cried, darting aside as he gathered up mana from within himself. The area around him hadn't recovered enough for the high-powered spells he had created, so the best he could do was conjuring. "Ah! A barrier, a barrier! I need some extra defense!" he exclaimed as he dodged the slashes of Remy's rapier, moving quickly back away from the blonde, "What's that spell again? Think, think, think!"

"These Spires are going to stay right where they are!" Remy snarled, lashing out with the blade so fast it made Timmy think of Cosmo's scythe, "They will be perfected and once I've gotten them to generate the most powerful nullification pulse-wave possible, I'll have them spread all around the world!" The brunet jumped aside, startled as he tried to piece together the spell he wanted in his mind. "This world will be plunged into an age of darkness where magic is choked from the planet! Everyone and everything will exist in misery forever!" the teen millionaire declared with a maniacal laugh, "That will be its punishment for ignoring me, for not bothering to make sure **I** was happy, for always putting that blasted Turner boy before me!"

_"Defend me from the blows of the enemy! Barrier!"_ Timmy cried, throwing out his arms as mana shimmered over him and coated his body in a faint blue aura of light. The rapier slammed against it, the force strong enough to send him reeling back in pain. Whatever it was _Barrier_ was supposed to do, it must have worked; even though his shoulder ached from the strike, there wasn't a wound of any kind. But then again, his spell might only be a copy of the true _Barrier_, and the effects were probably different from the original. He held his shoulder in attempts to dull the pain as he returned his attention to the blonde and his crazed speech. "You can't cancel out all the magic in the world!" he exclaimed in horror, "If you do that, you'll destroy everything! These towers are canceling out mana and our world needs that to survive! How can you condemn everyone to death because of your rivalry with Timmy Turner?"

"Never say his name in front of me!" Remy shrieked, pressing on with the attack, lashing wildly at the brunet with his sword, "It's all his fault! Alive or dead, as long as Turner exists in this world in any form, I will _never_ be happy!" Timmy stared at him, aghast, as the anti-magic units gathered and spun overhead and around the two of them. _"Never!"_

And the units rushed in on the brunet in a silver tidal wave.

.

Victoria growled angrily as she twisted about, her dual blades flicking into the air to hack apart the strange, bug-like units Tootie had pointed out. Moving around as she was in shoes like she was wearing was hampering her ability to really dish out damage. But if anyone could wreck a bunch of expensive-looking pieces of equipment in a pair of hunter green stiletto heels, it was Victoria. She just hoped the weird little dog-like machines with the sharp metal jaws didn't return the favor with some damage of their own.

"How many of these things are out here anyway? Who built all this stupid techno-crap?" she snarled, "When I get my hands on the creep who did this...!" A blast of pink smoke surrounded her suddenly and she cried out in alarm, looking herself over as a strange black fabric appeared under her clothes, stretching out to her wrists and ankles as it shimmered with a strange light that had no real source. "What the-? What is this?" the carrot-top exclaimed and jumped back as another pair of the units she'd been attacking fell at her feet, punctured and smoking from several laser shots.

"Ah! Miss Victoria! Do not fear! It is a special armor meant to protect you!" Sanjay called out as he ran up to her. He peered at it, then blinked. "More specifically, this is Timmy's armor! He must have wished for you to have it! A.J. must have told him you were here!"

"What's that twerp doing? I want answers, you little foreign freak!" Victoria snapped.

"We will explain later! Come! Chester is helping Trixie and A.J. is helping Timmy! We shall give additional aid to Tootie!" Sanjay exclaimed, "We have destroyed all of the new units in this squadron! When the last of them falls, we can use the other units to overload the Spire Server System and shut down this tower!" The two hurried away from the squadrons of fairy traps and destroyers as they paused in their activity to begin petitioning the Spire for control. The signals sent back ordered them to follow the nearest control unit and the groups broke apart to seek the new controllers, some rushing after Trixie, the rest scrambling to catch up to Sanjay and Victoria. The woman glanced behind her and growled.

"Looks like we've got company tagging along." she muttered and hissed loudly, "And I'm a lousy hostess!" Sanjay held out a hand to her.

"You cannot destroy those units! We need them to overload the Spire!" he exclaimed and looked back ahead, gasping, "Tootie! She is not doing well!" Victoria turned back to follow his gaze and scowled. The blonde she had tackled earlier apparently hadn't learned his lesson and was doing everything he could to kick and toss around her little sister.

"Hey! I thought I told you to keep your hands off!" the carrot-top yelled and ran down the armored teen. Tootie dropped from Remy's hands, gasping for air as her hands went up to her neck.

"Tootie! Help!" a small voice called out and Victoria looked up to see where it came from. Her eyes went wide with shock and amazement at the sight of a tiny winged figure struggling to get out of a butterfly net attached to one of the flying devices. "Tootie! I'm caught! I can't use magic! Help me!"

"What is that?" Victoria exclaimed and turned to demand an answer from the Hindu. He didn't pay attention to her, bent to check on the choking girl as Tootie fought to regain her breath. The little creature cried out again and Victoria looked back at it, momentarily indecisive. What was that thing, and how did it know Tootie? Should she do something about it?

"R-Romi!" Tootie croaked out plaintively, catching her sister's attention once more, "Don't leave...!" Her hand reached out towards the creature. "Romi!"

Okay, so that made her decision easier.

_"Ready! Heeyaah!"_ Victoria yelled and lashed at the device as it began bobbing away with its cargo. The sword slammed against it and snapped the butterfly net off, sending the device skittering away now that it no longer had a struggling weight to carry. Sanjay stood back as Tootie scrambled to the fallen net and ripped open the mesh with her dagger, collecting the little figure from within and hugging it.

"Romi! Are you okay?" she whispered as Victoria stood over her, staring down at what appeared to be a tiny girl dressed in a deep blue evening gown and black hair done up in pigtails just like Tootie. A gold crown hovered over her head and gossamer wings fluttered from her back.

"I'm okay, but..." the creature, a fairy from what Victoria could understand of the wings and crown and little star-topped wand in its fist, murmured and looked up at her with watery eyes the color of the evening sky. Tootie followed her gaze and paled, holding the fairy closer to her. Victoria blinked down at them. What was with them? "There's no way I can get out of this one." the fairy named Romi whispered fearfully, "Adults aren't supposed to know about fairies, and now I'm exposed! I'm going to disappear!"

"No! You can't!" Tootie begged and looked back at the carrot-top tearfully, "Vicky, why did you have to come back? _Why?_" For a moment, Victoria felt her anger rise up. What the hell kind of gratitude was that? She came back to help save her little Gothic butt and this was all she got for it? She looked between her and the fairy, felt some of that anger seep away for some strange reason, then sighed harshly.

"You stupid brat." she growled, "I came to keep you out of trouble, not bother with some idiotic talking doll you got at the Wall-to-Wall Mart!" She grinned at the stunned expressions on their faces and turned her back on them to face the incoming blonde. "Next time, leave your toys at home! I don't want to bother with saving it from these stupid flying things! Fairies, yeah, right. What do you think I am? A retard?"

"Thank you!" Tootie exclaimed and hugged her from behind.

"Yeah, yeah! Head's up! He's coming back for another round!" Victoria declared and knelt on the ground, holding both swords out at the raging blonde that raced back towards them, "If he keeps that up, he'll impale himself. Come on, twerp! Make yourself a shish kebob!"

"Not if he's armored in that indestructible suit!" Tootie exclaimed, "I wish that clone's armor was gone!" A blast of deep blue smoke erupted from the boy and when it cleared, the incoming teen was clad only in the white tuxedo and red bow tie he always wore. The clone's face switched from rage to shock then horror as he tried to slow down. Victoria grinned as he failed to save himself and did exactly as she had predicted. "Aaagh!" Tootie cried in disgust and horror at seeing the teen run himself through on both of her older sister's swords. The clone Remy slumped over the blades, then vanished in a burst of violet smoke. Victoria stood with a frown, looking up at her blades in examination.

"No blood, no body. I'm guessing this guy was something that was wished up, right?" she asked over her shoulder. Tootie nodded quickly, her face pallid and a faint shade of green. "If you're gonna hurl, do it somewhere else. I'm wearing the good shoes." Victoria grumbled as Sanjay picked off several of the control units and watched the remaining anti-magic devices halt momentarily as they sought new commands.

"This is war. War is not pretty." he remarked and looked towards the little girl, "Call Chester and ask how many of the devices are still in activation. We will continue on to find Timmy and see if he needs assistance." Tootie pulled her hand from her mouth and nodded slowly.

"O-okay." she whispered and swallowed hard before touching fingers to the green earrings she wore, "Chester? Can you read me?"

.

Sniping off control units while on the run wasn't easy, but Chester made do with a few stray shots as he raced to Trixie's aid. She sounded like she was in serious trouble and Apollo hadn't responded to any calls. What was going on? What was happening?

He got his answer as he arrived to find Remy's clone pressing Trixie's head into the concrete, attempting to crush her as she struggled feebly. Apollo lay limp nearby, a tiny hand open as the wand lay dully on his palm. It seemed surreal to the blonde Other, staring at the scene before him. Was this really happening? Here, in Dimmsdale? One of the few pure cities in the world?

The Asian whimpered in pain, tears squeezed from her eyes as her hair splayed out around her head. At any moment she would leave the world. Another friend lost. Another person who didn't deserve to die. How much longer would this go on?

"Get off!" Chester suddenly shrieked, bringing the laser rifle up to fire on the teen millionaire. The Remy clone looked over at him in surprise, then yelped in shock as a spray of bolts from the rifle washed over him, knocking him away from the girl. Darting forward, the blonde Other continued firing, driving the clone further back before he knelt to check on the girl. "Tricks! Trixie!" he called frantically, "Wake up! Hey, can you hear me?"

"Owwww..." the Asian moaned, twitching painfully, "Apollo... wish..." Chester reached out, placed a hand on the fallen fairy and felt for a pulse. There was one, weak and fluttery, but enough to let him know the little swordsman was clinging to life. The scimitar he wielded lay nearby, forgotten in whatever beating he had taken to protect his godchild.

"You both need healing. I'm taking you to Timmy; he should have dealt with the original Mr. Soft-Balls by now." the blonde whispered and slung the rifle onto one shoulder. He lifted up the fairy, collecting his wand and sword to put into their little sheaths, then set him in Trixie's arms. He picked her up at the end, holding her close in bridal-fashion to be sure neither she nor her fairy godfather were in danger of falling free. "Okay, let's get out of here!" he murmured and ran for the east side of the Spire.

"You bloody wretched trailer trash hick!" Remy's clone snapped as he recovered from the attack and began chasing after the other blonde, "Get back here! How dare you fire that weapon on me!" He waved the sword wildly as his enhanced armor helped him catch up to Chester. The two blondes glared at each other. "I'm going to wring your limbs from your body and let you watch me finish off this stupid little whore slowly!" the clone hissed gruesomely.

"Just try it. We've got someone stronger than you on our side." Chester snarled back and darted aside as the clone lashed out with the rapier. The two ran on, side by side, as they made their way around the Dark Spire, hundreds of anti-magic units trailing and humming around them, tracking the strip of green hair decorating Trixie's armor. With his arms full with carrying the raven-haired Popular and her fairy, Chester couldn't safely fight back. Forced to dodge and evade attacks, he murmured his own wish for help. Something to aid him, anything.

"Big Man Upstairs! Lend a guy a hand already! Come on!" he cried out desperately.

"Tally-ho! The cavalry arrives!" Anti-Cosmo's voice called out and the blonde looked up in surprise as the anti-fairy flew down by him and grinned devilishly, green eyes glittering through the monocle. "I just can't stand staying away from any opportunity to make that Buxaplenty child utterly miserable! Do say that you have such a case for me to exploit!" he purred.

"What? What are **you** doing here?" Chester exclaimed and darted aside from another attack. The Remy clone hissed in a fury and flicked the blade up to try hitting the anti-fairy as well. Anti-Cosmo merely edged away, sticking out his tongue.

"Wanda's already heading back to dear Timothy for a helping hand and my idiot doppleganger is amusing himself with chasing his pants around the alley." he returned to the leader of the Others, "So that leaves me with nothing to do but bring horrible bad luck to someone, preferably a rich, blonde, bratty someone."

"Great! He's right over there!" Chester yelled loudly, "Do something before he kills us all!" Anti-Cosmo tipped his hat and reversed direction, waving his wand to conjure up a large mirror directly in the oncoming teen's path. Crashing through it, Remy's clone yelled in a fury, unaware of the pieces of his armor falling off along with the shards of glass.

"Your armor isn't quite so indestructible when it comes to black magic, is it, Remial?" Anti-Cosmo taunted and laughed as the clone came to a stop and looked himself over in astonishment. Chester raced on, no longer having to worry over being tailed by the magical duplicate.

"Hang on, Tricks." he murmured to the girl in his arms, "I'll get you help." She didn't answer, but the Fenton Phones coming on snatched his attention away from her slight smile. "Yeah, what's up?"

_"Oh, good. How many of those weird units are left? Vicky helped get rid of the Remy clone bugging me, and we're gonna go to see if Timmy's finished on his end."_ Tootie called out to him. Chester winced.

"Ah, man, Toots! I dunno! I haven't checked yet and Trixie's in serious trouble! The other clone took her and Apollo both out and they need some major healing or they might not pull through!" he exclaimed, "I'm gonna catch up with Timmy, too, and see if he can spread some magic to help them out!"

_"Chester! Get moving! We're taking out as many units as we can here, but they're swarming all over the place! They're using the aerial units to guard themselves and Elmer and I can't hit the controllers without knocking out a whole lot of the other devices!"_ A.J. cried out over the communication channel.

_"Yeah! And just now there's this swarm of ground units and some leftover aerial ones that just jumped all over Timmy! Remy's gloating his head off, but he could turn and attack me or A.J. any minute now!"_ Elmer blurted out frantically, _"We need extra cover here! And a way to get rid of those last few control units!"_

Chester bit his lip and shook his head. Not good. Since that big wave of nullification energy blew through the area, none of the magic-users were able to pull big spells to keep themselves covered. Then Tootie lost her bracelets to get Caleb fixed (when the hell was he gonna come back anyway?) and lost all ability to use magic. And now Timmy was getting overwhelmed by units left and right. What more could go wrong? Should they just retreat? He ground his teeth together.

No. Not after all they went through, all the pain and weariness, not after all the planning. Timmy was counting on them to help him save Dimmsdale. Team Turner wasn't gonna quit just 'cause some rich freak was breaking rules of engagement or some crap like that!

There was a blast of something behind him, probably a bad luck spell going off courtesy of Anti-Cosmo. Chester only hoped that it did something to keep that other clone from staying in the fight. Things were going crazy enough as it was!


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: OMG, I am SO sorry for that last mix-up! I uploaded in mass while at a drive-thru in Burger King and rushed the job. I apologize SINCERELY for that confusion and to make up for it, here's a bonus upload so everyone can see what happened to Danny Phantom while he was away from the story. Soooo sorry! -bows frantically-

* * *

14

Timmy kept his head covered as the units pounded down on him. Why? Why was this happening? Everything had been planned out properly, right? No, no it hadn't. He hadn't thought to ask about Anti-Cosmo's power limits, but he hadn't known to; why ask about it when he had thought all along that Anti-Cosmo had plenty of power? He ordered around anti-fairies like nothing, didn't that take power?

No, just really good ways of talking and manipulating others.

And the control units that prevented the server overload. Why hadn't he listened to the others when they kept saying something was wrong? Why was he so stubborn? Why didn't he just listen to people?

Because he wanted to do it himself? Because he overestimated himself?

And the units kept locking onto him, kept diving at him, trying so hard to stuff him into their little nets. Why? He didn't have the magitech armor with its strip of green, didn't have Cosmo or Anti-Cosmo around, didn't even have Wanda with him! Why were those things _still_ tracking him?

He cried in pain as the _Barrier_ spell finally broke and something sharp jabbed under his arm, right into his side. A murmur for _Heal_ and he quickly put up the mana shield, small and local. Just big enough to defend himself. Why was this happening?

"Yaah! A.J.! You weren't kidding! Look at them all!" Tootie's voice exclaimed suddenly.

"And the twerp's buried under that pile of trash over there, right? Lemme at 'em!" Victoria's voice butted in and Timmy looked up in surprise, watching silver machines suddenly get swept aside by shining blades as the carrot-top attempted to relieve the burden. He lit up with renewed hope and focused on the shield. Thanks to Tootie, he had another shot at the battle.

_"Iectactus Scield!" _he cried out enthusiastically, and forced the field up and away, watching it spiral around and fling anti-magic units all over the place. One landed squarely in Remy's chest, knocking him onto his back. Timmy jumped free of the contained area he'd been trapped in for what felt like ages, then looked up in time to see Wanda fly down to him in relief.

"Oh, Sweetie! You're still in one piece!" she exclaimed happily and hugged him.

"Thanks to everyone here!" he returned and looked over at the rising blonde, "All right, Remy! Last chance to get out of here before we all dive in on you!"

"Why should I? I'm winning!" Remy snapped as he staggered back to his feet, then jumped as several more shots of laser fire sprayed over his head and knocked down more of the aerial devices. There was a brief space of time where the control unit was exposed and Sanjay picked it out in that instant. "Hey! Stop that!" the teen millionaire demanded, "Those were expensive!"

"Well, it's garbage now!" Victoria snarled, stepping towards him with her swords ready, "Beat it or I'll run you through like I did that sappy copy of yours!" Timmy laughed, his fairy godmother perched on his shoulder. This was more like it! Now the tides were turning to their favor again! Remy scowled and held out a hand, the flickering dome of energy passing over him once more.

"Just try it! My force field blocks out magic just like that!" he declared haughtily and snapped his fingers. The brunet grinned and mimicked the boy, holding out a hand towards him.

"Just magic? That's kind of lame. Maybe you forgot that I'm more of a mana manipulator than a magician?" he remarked brightly and pulled several spheres of Earth mana from the broken rubble around him. The orbs hovered around him, then hurled themselves through the force field and pelted the teen millionaire. Remy danced about in a panic, startled by what had occurred.

"Wh-what? How could you-?" he wailed and fell over again when one of the clods knocked him upside the head, "Juandissimo! I wish I was out of here! These mongrels are cheating!"

"I would have left sooner, but you just had to push your luck!" the Latino fairy growled and Anti-Cosmo poofed into view, laughing.

"Did somebody say luck?" he questioned cheerfully, "Because that brainless little clone of a certain snotty brat didn't have an ounce of it once I got through with him! Awfully bad luck for him to lose his armor running through a mirror and then to trip over a black cat right onto a ground unit with spikes on its head just as it was running around to this side!" He smiled widely and twirled his wand in one hand. "I daresay that the misery emanating from you, Buxaplenty, should be enough to fuel my black magic all the way to the next Friday the Thirteenth!"

"Get me out of here!" Remy shrieked again and he and Juandissimo both vanished in a blast of violet smoke.

"There's a lot of crazy toys around." Victoria remarked loudly, "So if you don't want trouble from me, better put 'em away!"

"Oh crud! That's right! Vicky's not supposed to see you!" Timmy whispered in shock as Wanda stiffened in alarm and poofed herself into a pink watch. Anti-Cosmo waved a hand flippantly.

"I'm not bound to a bunch of silly 'godparent' rules, so 'Ha!' on that!" he declared and pointed towards a figure racing towards them, "Timothy, you might want to deal with that gentleman over there. Something about a girl and her little friend needing quite a bit of healing?"

"Chester?" Timmy questioned in surprise as the blonde raced towards them.

"Help! Tricks is in trouble!" he exclaimed as the remaining members of Team Turner went back to focusing their attacks on the last of the control units, the squadrons of devices from other sides of the Spire convening on them all in a mass attack. Timmy joined him and the two knelt as Chester carefully set Trixie onto the ground. "I found the other clone Remy trying to crush her head flatter than steam-rolled roadkill." the blonde growled harshly, shutting his eyes with a shudder, "I barely got him off in time. And Apollo there isn't reacting to anything I do and his heartbeat's so weak it might as well not be there at all."

"I can try healing them, but this might take a lot of _Cure_ spells, and I don't even know if I can use healing spells on Apollo." Timmy murmured worriedly. The watch poofed back to Wanda's form and she hovered over the red-haired fairy.

"I'll work on Apollo, then. Focus on Trixie." she told him and pointed her wand at the little swordsman, the gold star shimmering as magic poured into the other fairy.

_"Mana around me, mend this broken form! Cure!"_ Timmy declared, holding his hands over the Asian. The shimmering cloud of healing mana descended on her, but she didn't even respond to it. The brunet looked helplessly down at her. "Chester, this is really serious! _Cure_ is my strongest healing spell and it didn't even make a dent! To keep it up until she recovers... that could drain all my personal mana!" he cried. Chester reached out and grabbed the collar of his shirt, shaking the brunet frantically.

"So what are we supposed to do? Let her die? Can't you do something to save her?" he wailed, voice rising to that girlish shriek that popped up whenever he was truly panicking. Timmy grabbed his hands and wrenched them loose, throwing them up and aside from him.

"Calm down! I'll do what I can!" he exclaimed and held out his hands to the Asian, murmuring the words for _Cure_ again.

The other teens and Victoria struggled to get past the protective barrier of anti-magic units in order to reach the control units that still functioned. Anti-Cosmo darted from device to device, catching their attentions however he could and pulling them away from the units.

"Cosmo! You idiot! Get over here! You can help us out with this mess!" he yelled in frustration and glared at the resulting blast of green smoke as the fairy godfather appeared nearby.

"What'd I miss?" Cosmo asked cheerfully and yelped as several units whirled around to scan him, then locked on and began chasing him around the air. Anti-Cosmo grinned evilly.

"Not much." he returned and looked aside to see a set of units all gunning for him. His expression quickly changed and he waved his arms. "No! Not me! I'm not a fairy! Blast our identical DNA!" he wailed, flapping his wings furiously to evade the devices.

"There's not enough activity going on!" Tootie exclaimed, looking down at her armband as the Spire model continued to remain unresponsive, "Chester! How many units left?" The blonde kneeling by Trixie and Timmy lifted his head in surprise, then dug out the detector, studying the screen.

"About ten units left! Dude! You guys took out too many of the other units! There's not gonna be enough to overload the server once the last of the controllers goes down!" he called back and turned back in alarm as Timmy suddenly bent over the Asian girl, shuddering, "Agh! Timmy! Dude! Wake up!" He dropped the detector and grabbed the boy by the shoulders, lifting him up and shaking him. "Come on, guy, don't pass out on me now! Trixie still needs your help!" the blonde screeched, "Wake up! Come on! You're the only one here with healing magic!"

_"I should feel insulted by that."_ Caleb's voice suddenly remarked over the communication line. The team called out his name in combined surprise, looking up as the red-winged android flew down towards them. "I leave you guys alone for about an hour and you already start falling apart from stress." he added with a slight grin, "Humans. Such silly creatures." He pat his travel bag at his side. "I bring gifts! Head's up!" Caleb dug into the bag and pulled out a pair of bracelets, tossing them towards Tootie. "I went back to New York for repairs and replacements! Those are your aionis bracelets! Now, do some damage!"

"Got it!" Tootie exclaimed, catching the trinkets and slipping them back on over her wrists. Immediately, she felt the rush of mana flowing through her and she cried out in joy. She hadn't realized just how much she missed the feeling of it in her body. Pulling her dagger free, she pointed it at Timmy with a happy exclamation. _"Mana around me, mend this broken form! Cure!"_ she called out and the circle of light bloomed at her feet as the shimmering cloud of curative mana spun around the brunet. He immediately perked up and looked around in surprise.

"You're new. First battle?" Caleb asked of Victoria as he continued hovering above the group. He reached into the bag and tossed out a charm on silvery chain towards her. The young woman caught it and looked down at the pendant in confusion. "Put it around your neck! It'll increase the power of your attacks!" the angel added and finally touched down, holding the giant fork out towards Trixie, "Timothy! Get back to the frontlines! I'll handle her!" A huge spiral of brilliant blue light blossomed across the ground, decorated with runes and shimmering lights that looked beautiful and mystic all at once. _"Root of all creation, grant us the breath of life! Revitalize!"_ he cried and everyone on the field felt the rush of healing mana flood them. Trixie gasped, arcing with sudden renewed vigor before struggling to sit up.

"Ow, ow, ow. Did the price go down on those cute Italian shoes?" she asked dazedly, looking up at the blonde. Chester grinned at her. Yeah, she was going to be okay.

Tootie looked around at all the units swarming about madly to defend the control units. This wasn't good. The controllers were keeping the Spire protected from overload and there weren't enough units to even trigger the server crash. What could be done? She thought hard, then blinked.

"Mars. The Mars units." she whispered, "A squadron of nearly three hundred units. Maybe that'll do the trick." She took a deep breath. "I wish the anti-magic units from Mars were here!" Tootie yelled and Romi waved her wand. In a giant blast of deep blue smoke, hundreds of units covered in red dust appeared all around the group. Team Turner halted their attack in surprise. For a moment, none of the newly recovered units moved. Then they did and, to the shock of all the teens around them, the dusty devices whirled around and lunged at the swarm of units protecting the controllers.

"Okay, so why are they doing that?" Elmer asked the others. A.J. thought it over, watching the red units tearing past normal devices as they swerved aside. Controllers hovered about, their lights flashing frantically as they were knocked out of the air by leaping ground destroyers, then torn into by their metal jaws.

"This is just a guess, but I think the red units are from this Spire before the control units were implemented." A.J. finally remarked, "So now that they're back and trying to sync with the server system, and these control units are trying to force a link to the red units to keep them from overloading the Spire, the red units have decided that the control units are some kind of hostile unit." He grinned. "So they're attacking the controllers for us!"

"Then we are able to get a little rest until the control units are gone, yes?" Sanjay asked tiredly, "Because my trigger fingers are very much sore!"

"If we can rest, let's at least do it with some protection." Timmy remarked and held out a hand to summon the mana shield over the group of them. They watched from the safety of the shimmering blue dome as the dust-covered units continued to assault the last of the control units. Caleb looked at them through the shield and shook his head, a strange smile on his face.

"You'll have to make it bigger. I brought allies." he remarked and pointed past them. The team turned around and cried out happily as Sam Manson and Tucker Foley ran onto the battlefield towards them, waving their hands at the teens.

"Sam! Yay!" Tootie exclaimed cheerfully.

"Hey, cool! Team Phantom's back!" Chester added in excitedly, "Now we're really gonna kick butt!" Timmy looked them over quickly, then looked puzzled.

"It's Sam and Tucker all right, but where's Danny?" he murmured in confusion, "Where's my cousin?" He looked over at the angel for answers and stepped back in alarm as the android brought out a silvery thermos from the travel pack.

"He's immune to roughly eighty percent of the world's ghost hunting gear, but I keep several pieces of equipment specifically to contain Danny Phantom in the event something goes... _wrong_." Caleb told the group, "This is one of them, an enhanced Fenton Thermos meant to hold and sedate him. Those of you wondering where the leader of Team Phantom is, he's right inside this."

"Why? What went wrong?" Tootie asked in confusion.

"One or two things, as far as Sam and Tucker are willing to tell me right now. But enough to change how our ghostly ally functions." the angel returned and looked over at the swirl of silver machines, "Your break's over. Time to take this Spire out." Timmy blinked and followed his gaze. Sure enough, the Mars units had finished destroying the control units and were now ramming themselves against the blue field while Cosmo and Anti-Cosmo flew wildly overhead, sending aerial units scattering after them.

"Let's do it, everyone!" he exclaimed, "Wanda! I wish the strands of hair that were on the magitech armors were put back in place!"

"Hang on a second! I'm almost done with Apollo!" the pink-haired fairy returned and jumped back as the swordsman popped upright with a startled expression.

"Yow! What a charge!" he exclaimed and shook his head, "Geez! I thought I was gonna buy it back there!"

"Well, watch yourself a little better this time." Wanda told him and waved her wand to grant the wish. The firing squad members of Team Turner looked down at their armors and found the strip of green on the black mythril once again.

"You know the drill! Have them chase you until the server system overloads!" Timmy declared and pressed a key on his armband, "Time starts now! Eight minutes to server shutdown!" The mana shield dropped away and the group raced out in different directions, sending units of all kinds chasing after them. Trixie shook herself off and darted away from a small squadron of units, laughing at the mix of silver and red machines that scurried after her.

"Now we're talking! Let's go! Let's go! I gotta burn some calories!" she whooped.

With the full team working together and no more worries from mysterious new control units and Remy and Juandissimo jumping in to screw with people, it didn't take long for Tootie's Adventurer's Map 3000 to report the frenzied activity between the Spire Server System and the hundreds of anti-magic units currently racing around the tower. A little longer and the sound of a massive explosion high overhead signaled the end of Spire Four and a run for cover as Team Turner and Team Phantom both dodged the rainstorm of dying aerial units.

Anti-Cosmo took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of something in the air, then sighed in pleasure, floating in relaxation over Timmy's head.

"Ah, the delectable aroma of utter misery!" he mused aloud, "Like a nectar, it perfumes the air and brings the promise of even greater depressions later on! I do so love it all!" Caleb looked around and picked up one of the wrecked control units, studying it.

"Tactics have changed again. But how is it that anytime we come up with a new strategy, the next Spire is already prepared to counterattack it?" he wondered aloud. Behind him, the two teams were already meeting up with greetings and happy reunions.

"So you're the chick she's been getting this Goth stuff from." Victoria remarked, eyeing Sam Manson with some wariness, "What else have you been teaching my sister?"

"How to land a man." Sam returned coolly, "You?"

"How to kick one when he's down."

"Nice. I think we might have some things in common."

Timmy ventured up to the two older girls and looked up at Sam worriedly. The older Goth blinked at him, then looked uncomfortable, rubbing her arm as she glanced aside.

"Hey, Timmy, sorry about not letting you know more about what was going on in Amity Park. We had to deal with it ourselves, you understand?" she told him quietly.

"What happened to Danny? Why is he stuck inside some stupid soup can?" the brunet asked in a low voice, searching her face for answers. The older Goth sighed and closed her eyes, shaking her head.

"You know that story I told you long ago? About Danny's alternate future?" she murmured, "The guy from there... he made a move on Danny again. About a month in solitary confinement with some ghost artifacts for messing with his head..." She shook her head again. "We broke him out with some help from what very few friends Danny has in the Ghost Zone, but..."

"But **what**? What _happened_?" Timmy demanded as Caleb stepped up behind him.

"Would you like to see for yourself?" the angel asked and held out the thermos, "Sam, he could be useful in destroying the Spire, but unleash him once I've gotten a good look around the inside of the tower, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." she returned and accepted the thermos.

"I'll alert you when I'm done." Caleb added and began walking off, "A.J.! Tucker! If you want to do some technical snooping around with me, now's the chance! Let's go! I have some stuff to figure out about this stupid tower!" The remainder of the teams took time to relax, picking out spots on the lot to sit and recover from battle fatigue. Timmy kept his eyes on the thermos, scowling.

"I'm not gonna wait all night, Sam! Let him out! I want to see if he's okay!" he yelled in frustration. The other teens looked over at him and the older Goth in concern, curious over what he was going on about. Sam sighed again.

"All right. But you might not like it." she murmured and touched fingers to the heart-shaped stone on her necklace, "I'm going to have to take control of him first, or he's just gonna go nuts once he's out. The sedatives haven't been working that well on him." She took a deep breath and began murmuring softly, whispering words Timmy could barely hear, let alone understand. The stone seemed to radiate with a soft light and the thermos in her hand shivered violently before finally going still. "Okay, I've got him now. He won't do anything unless I order it." Sam remarked and pulled the lid off of the thermos, pointing it away from herself so the blast of light wouldn't hit anyone.

Winds rushed out from within the device and a black-clad figure flew out of the thermos, swirling around in the air erratically before dropping to the ground and standing there. It was certainly Danny Phantom, of that the group could tell. Same hair, same basic uniform, but at the same time, completely wrong. For starters, the haz-mat suit was colored black and red, rather than black and white, the gloves lined with sharp edges along its length and a red cape draped over one shoulder decorated intricately with a shimmering green thread and design that seemed to constantly re-weave itself into new patterns. The aionis-mythril bands he wore on his arms to hold sets of ecto crystals remained as they were, and the Topaz Crest was unchanged but the gem itself was dim, as though the light had been drained from it. The softly glowing aura that surrounded him was no longer pure white as normal, the shimmering blue of his Ice Mode or even the shining gold of Topaz Mode, but a burning red that made him seem almost demonic. Worse still were his eyes; no longer a brilliant green, but an angry crimson with dark tones lining them as he glared at the group before him. A strange strip of black cloth was bound around his head, covering his mouth and tied off in the back, as though meant to gag him but looking very simple and almost flimsy at it.

"He looks mean." Trixie mumbled in a small voice, hiding behind Chester as she looked up at the ghost. Victoria huffed in disinterest.

"Big deal. A ghost is a ghost." she muttered, "Who cares what he looks like..."

"What _happened_ to him?" Timmy repeated, staring in horror at his cousin.

"Most of the artifacts that had been sealed in the bubble with him were meant to convert him to evil, polarizing him against positive feelings so that he would turn into Dark Danny." Sam explained tiredly, "A few of them took hold, so we're keeping him locked in the Fenton Thermos until we can find a way to reverse the effects. I made that gag he's wearing with help from some pretty potent spiritual spells to keep him from using the Ghostly Wail, and Topaz Mode refuses to activate while he's in this condition, so Phantom Lance, Phantom Ray and Phantom Moonlight, along with the other ectomana powers, have been locked away from him." She touched her pendant again. "Also, just to keep control of him, I have to force my will on him with the Stygian Seal. Otherwise, Danny will just go ballistic and start destroying everything he sees. Caleb was supremely pissed off when he saw what happened, so it's a little surprising that he's not blowing up right now, but I'm sure it'll sink in later and then the fireworks'll go off."

_"Hey, guys! We found something you might wanna check out! Come on in!"_ A.J.'s voice called out over the Fenton Phones.

_"Bring Danny. Timmy, you may want to see this for yourself. It could explain a few things for all of us."_ Caleb added in evenly. The majority of the teams eagerly ran from the lot towards the Spire, glad to have something to excuse them from the sight of the altered phantom. Sam sighed a third time and pat the brunet on the shoulder.

"Don't worry much. We'll get our old Danny back." she murmured, "Somehow." She looked over at the ghost and lifted her hand, motioning some quick signal. "Danny! Come!" she ordered and Danny hovered to her silently, following along behind her as she walked towards the Dark Spire. Timmy shoved his hands into his pockets as the fairy couple fluttered near him, Anti-Cosmo choosing to turn himself into the star pendant around his neck for some rest.

"I wish we could save Cousin Danny." he murmured. Wanda put her hand on his head and shook her own.

"Sorry, Sport, but he's in ghost form and Topaz Mode is shut off. Our magic can't touch him." she told him gently.

"And even if it could, I don't think we have the power to overcome whatever it was that did **that** to him." Cosmo added quietly, looking faintly ill and humble, "That's ghost magic, and really bad ghost magic, too." The three of them began making their way to the Spire as well, their newest victory soured by the knowledge that they had lost an ally to an enemy beyond their time.

* * *

Master Control Spire~

Crocker smiled up at the models on the monitor. Spire Four had gone dark only a few minutes ago, lost to the darkness as its server system died from overload. There had been some erratic movements of the units and various reports from those that carried recording devices. The new Timmy had been overwhelmed by something that the units hadn't been able to recognize, something that had just appeared from seemingly nowhere. The retired teacher grinned; perhaps Remy wasn't just babbling when he had announced that he was going to deal with the problem himself. The capture units had tried their hardest to obtain the brunet, but nothing had worked at pulling him in.

"I'll have to make the nets bigger." he muttered and got up, pacing slowly towards a large assembly of metal and plastic. He stopped and looked up at it thoughtfully. The basic design of his new project was completed. With more time to study and learn about the strange technology, it would only be a matter of months, maybe weeks if he pushed himself, before the invention was fully operational and ready to obtain the magical power he desired. In the meantime, he would continue testing the prototype devices that he built to mimic the small gadget's circuitry as closely as possible. The apparent power source, a small crystal the size of a pea and shimmering with a soft violet light, had fascinated him to no end. More so when touching it resulted in a tiny electric shock. "Much bigger." he mused again, thoughts returning briefly to the matter of the capture units failing to work.

The computer beeped at him, signaling an incoming call from Remy. Huffing in annoyance, Crocker headed back to his desk and sat back in his seat. This was getting old. Though the boy still had damning evidence that would seal his family's fate irrevocably, the least he could do was not spoil what little fun Crocker could get out of this miserable quest to kill fairy magic. The night had been going so well, too. He tapped the keys and leaned back, weaving his hands together as he put on the most bitter face he could, and he'd had years of practice at that.

"Status of Spire Four! Tell me! Is it still standing?" Remy barked out immediately after coming online.

"It's dead. Along with every unit under its control. Looks like the little magic-user has evened the score." Crocker remarked with a contemptuous grin, "He has half of Dimmsdale under his power, a power that's growing stronger every day, with every ally of Turner's he recruits to his cause." He waved a thin hand negligently towards the models of the remaining four Dark Spires. "Face facts, boy. You created a saint out of Timmy Turner, and now his namesake is leading a very successful crusade against you."

"You're the one responsible for it all! If he destroys that final Spire you so conveniently locked yourself into, you'll wind up as dead as the Turner brat." Remy hissed, "Don't forget that I can just have Dimmsdale's police force drag your old bat of a mother into the dankest, darkest, most miserable prison cell they can find by sending them that stupid little light switch and telling them to look for your fingerprints. You are under **my** power, not Neogene's and certainly not that dead Turner's!"

"Blah, blah, blah. You don't get it, do you, boy?" Crocker muttered bitingly, "Scream and threaten all you like, the truth will never change. Ultimately, everyone in Dimmsdale, including you and me, is under Timmy Turner's power, **his** control. I'm a prisoner of guilt and blackmail connected to him; you created the idea for these twisted Spires because of him. As long as we live in Dimmsdale, as long as this city is part of us, his power dominates our lives. Nothing exists here without paying some form of homage to the Heart of Dimmsdale." He leaned forward, eyes narrowed at the blonde that fumed at the other end of the line. "This city owed its existence to the happiness and magic of Timmy Turner and because I was blinded by my selfish desire to prove fairies existed to the world, we have lost his life and the blessings his life gave us. I see the proof of it every time I look at this place; Dimmsdale is dying without its Heart. The boy is tearing down the Spires and bringing hope back to the children with fairies, but all he is doing is delaying the inevitable."

"You talk nonsense and gibberish, old man. Once this city gives me the title of Heart of Dimmsdale, everything else will fall into place. The city will learn to accept me as its new Heart or face obliteration from the inside out." Remy growled, jabbing at the screen as though to trying to stab his finger onto the end of the retired teacher's nose, "This was the deal that was made for you and for me. You will be free to live out the rest of your wretched life once the National Spires are completed. I will obtain the title that should have gone to me and my benefactors will likely get the short end of the stick, but then that's their problem, not mine." Crocker lifted an eyebrow. **That** was an interesting bit of information.

"Benefactors?" he echoed, "You have your own set of allies helping you try to put Dimmsdale's life in your hands?" The teen millionaire sat back with a snide grin, dressed in a dirty white armor instead of his usual pristine white tuxedo. Crocker peered at the black emblem and chuckled dryly. "A black spade with your initials? Copying again, are we? I recall the official insignia of the Heart of Dimmsdale being a red heart with Turner's initials engraved within it."

"Crocker, old chap, did you think I was going to undertake this massive world conquest without a few powerful friends of my own? Granted they refuse to deal with a lot of issues I'd like to make history, but other than that, I am assured my victory in the end." Remy purred coldly, "All I have to do is buy time for you to complete the schematics of the National Spires. For that, I'm contending with Neogene personally on the battlefield, and he isn't as powerful as you claim he is. The mongrel _will_ fail, this city _will_ be mine to do with as I please, and all you have to do is finish the designs. Once you've done that, you and your mother are free to leave this place in one piece."

"And if I succeed in harnessing the magic required to resurrect Timmy Turner?" Crocker inquired in false lightness, "What will your benefactors do for you if the true Heart of Dimmsdale returns from the clutches of Death itself?"

"Well, they don't need to know about that, do they?" Remy chuckled maliciously, "The Turner boy 'fell' to his death, correct? You're at the top of a tower that stretches eight hundred feet into the air. Just be sure he 'falls' again. It won't be the first time you tried to kill the boy, so feel free to put that experience to work." Laughing, he ended the connection, leaving Crocker to sit rigidly in his seat, fingers digging into the armrests of his chair as he glared hatefully at the darkened screen. That was the last straw; Timmy's death had been a tragedy, but he would not condemn himself to murder just to let some spoiled child have his way. Not when he was already branded as such in his own eyes and taunted by the brat with the label. He would harness that magic and revive the young child that meant so much to the city, and then he would ensure that the boy would gain the strength to stop his power-mad rival. If it was war Remy wanted, then war he would have.

* * *

Dark Spire Four~

"I don't get it." Timmy remarked in confusion as he blinked at the set of pipes before him. A.J. and Tucker both looked pained. Caleb merely huffed, not even bothering to look at the group as he glared at a wall nearby. The rest of Team Turner and Team Phantom studied the pipes with the brunet, puzzled. Victoria eyed them carefully, then looked up at the ceiling, following the direction of the pipes with her gaze.

"They look like they might go straight through this place." she remarked. Tootie knelt down and prodded at the base of the pipelines.

"Straight down, too. What are these?" she asked the older teens. Tucker jerked his thumb at the pipes.

"High-speed network connection cabling. This thing's wired in a serious way." he clarified. A.J. tapped his head, a surprised expression on his face.

"This Spire has an incredibly fast connection to a network system of some kind! And it's connected directly to the servers on the top floor!" he exclaimed, "I booted up the schematics to the Spires on my laptop and the floor-plans say that every Spire built has one of these pipelines running through it! The Dark Spires are directly connected to each other!"

"So?" Timmy asked, "Once again, I _don't_ get it."

"The Spires are sharing information." Caleb growled from where he stood. The group looked at him, blinking in confusion. "Since the first Spire, they've all been sharing and collecting data, probably on us and our strategies at taking out the towers. I wondered why it was that each time we destroyed a Spire, the next one would have defenses specifically designed to counteract our tactics." He glanced sidelong at them, a grim mask replacing his usually neutral face. "They're learning from us. The Spires will continue to learn from us until they've mastered how we think and operate. From there it will predict our movements and attacks to the point where they'll become unassailable."

"What does that mean?" Tootie asked, looking up at the android worriedly, "Unassailable? Does that mean we won't be able to attack the Spires anymore?" Caleb nodded once.

"Each Spire has been studying your fighting styles and patterns, adjusting their own security measures to compensate for the weaknesses you discover in them and adapting to render your attacks useless." Tucker explained and knocked on the pipeline, "And as long as the Spires remain connected, it's only a matter of time before they stop your attacks before you can even start them." The brunet's face fell and he sighed harshly, folding his arms over his chest in irritation.

"Why doesn't this get easier instead of harder? Can't I just use a wish to make all this go away?" he exclaimed bitterly, "It's just not fair! Everyone keeps suffering because of these things and I'm training as hard as I can, but it's not fixing anything!"

"You're doing your best and so are we." Trixie told him and stood by him, expertly pulling one of the young immortal's arms free to hold in her own as she spoke, "We just have to keep trying and do whatever it takes to keep our hopes going. As long as we believe that our dreams will return and you're there to lead the way, we'll definitely win." She smiled up at him, a cat-like grin that widened when she found him blushing slightly. The smile grew even wider at the sight of Tootie scowling furiously nearby. The young Goth puffed her cheeks, then spun around to avoid anyone else seeing her frustration.

"So then how do we plan an assault on the next Spire if it's already starting to learn from the attack on this one?" Timmy asked quietly.

"Our first priority is to sever the connections between the Spire we're going to attack and the other Spires left in the grid. We're down to four, right?" A.J. questioned and the brunet lifted his arm, commanding the map to materialize before them. Half the city shone brilliantly in gold, the other half blanketed by darkness. "Nice. Well, we gotta find out where the connections are, cut them, then make the attack on the Spire before anyone gets around to figuring out what we did and fix the problem."

"Plan it out when we've all rested from what happened here." Caleb told the group. He paused, lifted an eyebrow at Tootie's turned back, then glanced towards Timmy and Trixie. "Everyone should head back to their homes for recovery. Timmy, drop Trixie off at her home, just to be sure that she's really okay." he added evenly, ignoring the sudden stiffening of the little Goth, the scowl on her mentor's face and the deep frown that replaced Chester's usual grin, "You don't want to be responsible for her suddenly fainting if she goes on her own, do you?" The brunet shook his head quickly, eyes wide.

"I'll watch over her. No problem." he stammered and looked over at the ghost still hovering by Sam, silent and unmoved by anything that had been spoken or discovered or pointed out. "What about Danny? Can you change him back?" he asked in a slightly hopeful tone, "We could really use his help in the next Spire attack." The android glared at him and Timmy shrank back, startled. "What? It was a simple question!" he blurted.

"Leave Danny Phantom's condition to me! You focus on your quest here!" Caleb snapped at him and threw up his hands in aggravation, "His ectomana was heavily altered to the point where I don't think even the Eternal Sword Pin can change him back! This is damage to his very being that will take a great deal of time to repair and, even then, who knows how his personality may have suffered?" He halted suddenly, took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly as the group stepped back from him.

"Cute, but crazy. Did he get kicked out of heaven or something?" Victoria muttered under her breath.

"We've collected all the information we can about this Spire and we'll be taking several of the less damaged units outside with us to the Ivory Tower for examination." Caleb finally remarked in a neutral tone, "So everyone, please evacuate the Spire. Sam, prepare Danny for the tower's destruction."

"Got it." Sam agreed and carefully removed the black cloth gagging the teen ghost before stepping back and throwing out her hand, "Danny! Primary order; survival! On my command, initiate secondary order of the Dark Spire's destruction!"

"You heard the angel! Let's get outta here!" Tucker exclaimed, rushing out of the building with the rest of the team in hot pursuit.

.

Bringing down the tower wasn't all that difficult. Team Turner and Team Phantom just stood by and watched in a grim silence as the black obelisk crumpled in on itself, supports blown away by the eerie moans of the Ghostly Wail. Sam held one hand over the ebony stone on her necklace, eyes closed in concentration. When the collapse was finally over, the phantom appeared before her in a swirl of crimson smoke, glaring at her but making no other motion to either attack or react to her presence. She replaced the cloth and sighed.

"Well, it saves on bombs, that's for sure." the Goth remarked as she opened the Fenton Thermos to send Danny back into the device. She looked back at the other team, "We'll be out of the fight for now, but I'll keep you updated, Timmy, on how he's doing. We'd send over one of the other Phantoms, but they're all scattered globally and the closest one is keeping Amity Park under the illusion that Danny's fine." She looked down at the thermos sadly. "Who knows how long that illusion will last?" she murmured.

"That's okay. He's a tough guy, right? I'm sure he'll be back to normal once Caleb figures out how to undo the damage." Timmy tried to assure her and reached out to place his hand on the thermos, "I know you're still in there, Danny; you're still a Hero no matter what. That's what you told me, so I'm gonna tell it to you." He managed a smile. "It's just a change of mana, right? Maybe you just need the memory of who you really are to get you back." the brunet remarked and closed his eyes, "So I'll hang onto my favorite memory of you. The day we went exploring in the Ghost Zone for the first time, and you showed me that one spot where small spirits floated around like fish. Then that ghost hunter guy attacked the place to try to catch them all and you beat the crud out of him to save 'em. If that's not a real Hero at work, I don't know what is!"

"He didn't tell me about that." Sam remarked in surprise, "He just said that you two had a good time there." She held the thermos close and smiled at the young immortal, "Thanks for sharing the memory."

"We should be going." Caleb told the group with a faintly tired sigh, "I have a lot of work to do, both in gaining more knowledge of these new units and in recovering Danny Phantom." The groups separated, waving their goodbyes to one another as Victoria led Team Turner towards the van parked on the far edge of the lot.

"Pipe down already! Bunch of twerps..." she growled at the continued well-wishes, "If you all want rides back to your places, you'd better chip in for gas money! And nobody better gripe about my radio! I see a hand come near it and it's gettin' lopped off!" She dug into her pocket for her keys, working around the two swords still strapped to her waist. "And I still gotta pick up that one babysitter... stupid lousy night to get pulled over..."

"You guys go on without me and Trixie. I have to drop her off myself so we can come up with a cover story for her." Timmy pointed out and looked over at Victoria, "Thanks for helping us out tonight. You really saved us this time."

"I did this to keep my sis from getting torn up 'cause you were being stupid." the older woman shot back, "You just _happened_ to be on the other side of the mob of junk I was taking out! Got it?" Timmy laughed and rubbed his head ruefully.

"Oh, right! Yeah, 'cause you'd never be nice to me!" he exclaimed. Trixie looped her arms around his, giggling happily.

"I've got the perfect cover story for us, Timmy!" she cooed, "We can tell my parents that we were on a date!" Tootie fumed, turned, and kicked the van's tire as the brunet blushed a second time, giving the raven-haired Popular a startled expression.

"Wh-what? A date? Really? Will they believe that? I mean..." he stammered and Trixie smiled up at him, nodding.

"They'll buy it! I told them all about you as Timothy Neogene and they think you're just utterly fabulous, so they would be just so happy to hear we had a date!" she replied cheerfully. The two of them headed off as the rest of the group piled into the van. Tootie clambered into the front seat and scowled at the dashboard, waiting for Victoria to start up the vehicle and get them all away from the tower remnants.

"What spit in your box of juice?" the carrot-top asked as she took them back onto the main streets of Dimmsdale.

"It's not fair. I liked him first, so why's that Trixie girl the one walking home with him? She didn't care about him when he was alive, and now she wants to take him away." Tootie grumbled.

"What, the twerp?" Victoria questioned and her sister nodded, "Peh, so what? Let the baby have her bottle. You can do better." She grinned, "Get somebody with _money_. I got a dream man all picked out in my head; rich, hunky, famous, that's a guy to get!"

"I like Timmy." Tootie growled stubbornly, "But it looks like he still likes Trixie more than me." She looked down at herself glumly. "Do looks really matter? Does having a 'figure' matter?" she asked with a despairing sigh. She blinked as she felt Victoria put a hand on her head and ruffle her hair.

"Nah, not until you're ready to drag a man into a bed. If you're so freaky desperate to snag the twerp, show some backbone and fight fire with fire!" the older woman remarked, "You were always tearing after him like some slobbering dog begging for scraps, and he was doing the same for that Trixie chick. Why not change up tactics, kid? Instead of throwing yourself at him like some trampy little whore, switch it up and have _him_ go nuts for _you_."

"And how am I supposed to make him go nuts for a _twelve-year-old_?" Tootie asked dryly, "Let's face it, he's never gonna see me for me while I'm this young."

"If wishes were horses, get a mustang." Victoria muttered. The little Goth looked up at her, puzzled by the response.

"Don't you mean 'beggars would ride'?" she pointed out.

"I aim high, twerp. What's higher and harder to grab than a mustang? Wild thing!" the carrot-top whooped, then suddenly pounded the horn and shook a fist at some random car driving ahead of her, "Hey, you! Off my highway! I got places to go! Move it!" And with that, the conversation was dropped.


	15. Chapter 15

15

The walk to Trixie's mansion was quiet and peaceful. One stop had been made to let Trixie get out of the magitech armor; she promptly wished for a quick freshening up and an expensive-looking designer outfit to match the cover story of 'dating' and handed off the armor to Timmy, who wished it back to the Ivory Tower for storage. To cut down on time getting back to the upper-class district, the two of them had their fairy godparents fly them to a close point and picked up the normal trek from there.

"Is it me, or does the city seem more alive now than it used to be?" Trixie asked suddenly as they headed down the sidewalk together. Timmy looked around in confusion, then sniffed at the air.

"Mana level is higher than before, so I guess, yeah." he remarked, then looked somewhat dubious, "But we're in the upper-class district now, so maybe my sense is being thrown off by whatever barrier Remy put up to negate the nullifier field." The girl looked up at him in surprise.

"You can tell if magic is around?" she asked and linked his arm in hers again. She looked around, feigning innocence at her move as she felt the brunet tense at the sudden contact. "How can you tell? Is it something you can see? Does the world look a little different with magic in it?" she went on.

"Uh, well, um..." Timmy stammered bashfully and managed a timid grin, "It's more of a smell, a scent. Sometimes, I can just _feel_ it around me. And it's mana, not actual magic... at least, I'm not sure of the difference." He felt his watch shiver a bit and looked down at it in concern. "Wanda? You okay?"

"Fine, fine. Don't worry about me." the watch returned.

"What does magic smell like?" Trixie pressed on, pulling his attention back to her.

"Hard to describe, but I know it's like a perfume that's always there. It's not something that stinks up the place, but kind of a faint scent that you don't really notice until it's gone." Timmy explained slowly, uncertain of his own words, "That's about as close as I can get in telling about it." He brightened suddenly. "Oh, wait! I know! You know how your mom will wear a special perfume so much that anytime you smell it anywhere else, it makes you think of your mom?" he asked Trixie excitedly, "And it's just a part of her that's always there and she just doesn't seem right without it?" The girl lit up and nodded eagerly.

"I get it! Magic and mana are like the perfumes for the world!" Trixie exclaimed and the two laughed at the thought. She smiled and pressed her cheek against his arm, resting it on the soft black fabric of his turtleneck. "Have you always been able to sense it? Even when you were alive?"

"No. To be honest, I didn't even recognize I could sense magic until the first Dark Spire was destroyed. The scent blew in on the wind and it just made me feel happy to feel it there." the brunet returned, "I guess it's something that comes to you when you learn magic." He blinked. "Maybe Tootie will learn to sense it too!" he added with a smile, "Then it'll be way easier to tell how Dimmsdale's doing if the two of us are sensing magic together!"

"Do you have to wear these?" Trixie changed subjects quickly, weaving her hand together with Timmy's and pointing out the gloves, "You're completely covered up in black and dark colors, a pretty big change from the pink shirt and normal blue jeans."

"Keeps me from leaving fingerprints that could get me identified." he returned softly and sighed, "I can't help thinking about that last mission. I never knew the Spires were connected like that. How are we supposed to stop the towers if they just learn from each other how to stop us first? Where do those connections go so we can try to cut them like A.J. said?" Trixie frowned thoughtfully, mind drifting back to her memories of standing by Remy as he gloated on about his precious Spires. Hadn't he mentioned something about the towers being connected together?

She halted suddenly only a block from her home, eyes wide with realization. That was it! The strange feeling she'd had since the attack on the third Spire more than a month ago, a feeling that she had been forgetting something about the Spires that could be useful to Team Turner; she finally remembered what she had let slip from her mind in the excitement of helping Timmy destroy the towers.

"Underground!" she exclaimed as Timmy yelped in alarm, finding himself getting pulled backwards when she stopped and he just kept walking, "The connections must be underground!"

"Trixie, warn me when you do that! It's late and we're in the same section of the city as Remy!" the brunet yelled back at her in frustration, "We have to get you back home so the cover story sticks!"

"Listen! Remember how I told you that Remy liked to brag to me about his Spires when I was forced to be his girlfriend for so long?" Trixie blurted out to him excitedly, "He told me that they were impenetrable and all-powerful because Crocker was controlling them from above and Dr. Bender was guarding them from below." Timmy stared at her incredulously.

"Bender? The crazy dentist? The same Bender who kept trying to steal Chip Skylark's teeth?" he asked in disbelief. Trixie nodded.

"Remy said that Dr. Bender was doing him a favor without even knowing it. There was some kind of deal going on between them; Dr. Bender and Wendell would call him anytime they found one of their kid patients was acting happy, and Remy would give them minions to help them search for Chip Skylark." she told him and shook her head, puzzled, "I don't know how that is protecting the Spires underground, but I think it has to do with them sending the minions into the sewers to see if there are clues about Chip down there." They continued on towards the mansion as they pondered over the new information.

"Dr. Bender is involved in this, too." Timmy murmured in a grim tone, "This is worse than I thought. All my human enemies, banded together to destroy magic in the world. Why? That's my big question; why does Remy want to block out magic so badly?" He shook his head. "He told me it was to punish everyone for ignoring him, but I get the feeling that there's more to it. If he really wanted to punish people, he could just wish for it. Why do things this way?" Stopping just short of the huge doors that made up the entrance to Trixie's home, he blinked in surprise, then looked somewhat worried. "Maybe it's all my fault, like he said. I was so busy trying to make myself happy as a little kid that I didn't think of what other people were feeling." the brunet mumbled, "Maybe that's why I was murdered; I was being selfish and a little jerk. Maybe I deserved to die."

"No!" Trixie snapped at him and hugged him tightly, "No, you didn't deserve it! Nobody deserves to get killed, especially the way you were killed!" She looked up at him tearfully. "It's not your fault Remy wasn't happy; his happiness comes from making others unhappy, from knowing he's hurting someone else. When you were happy, you wound up trying to make others happy, too. Doing that made us _feel_ happy, even if you didn't quite make your wishes work." the raven-haired Popular told him earnestly, "That's why we all loved you so much; your happiness spread to us because we could tell that you were going to try to pass it on to the people you cared about. That's why you can never be erased from our memories by any magic; even if we forgot what you looked like or sounded like or did for anyone, we can never forget how you made us feel when you were around." She smiled up at his startled expression, laughing softly at his blush. "You were the heart of all our dreams, our hopes, our secret wishes to be just as happy as you. Remy might have tried to take that away with his Spires, and succeeded for a few years, but thanks to you, we're getting our happiness back. You are a part of us; we lost you for a while, but now you're back. It's just a matter of time before Dimmsdale recovers and understands that, in some way, its Heart came back too."

"Really?" Timmy murmured and she nodded, "Thanks. Let's keep fighting then. We'll give Dimmsdale a new Heart; one made from the people's own memories."

"That's the spirit!" Trixie laughed and pressed a kiss to his lips cheerfully. She pulled back with a grin, laughing again as the brunet stood there with a faintly lovestruck expression on his face. The doors opened and her parents stood there, looking stern at first, then surprised to see her standing on their doorstep with Timmy.

"Trixie! Is this that Timothy Neogene boy you told us so much about?" her mother asked in surprise, hand fluttering up to her heart, "My, he's such a handsome young man! The people of New York have always had such class!"

"Where were you all night, young lady? It's past your curfew!" Trixie's father demanded.

"We were on a date, Daddy." Trixie returned smartly and bat her eyelashes prettily at her father, "He asked me out and I just couldn't resist going off on a nice dinner date with him. I just forgot to call, that's all."

"Um, I hadn't realized how late it had gotten, so I thought I would walk her back home. Just to keep her safe." Timmy hastily added and put both hands behind his back, thinking quickly, "She's a beautiful girl, Mr. Tang, and I wouldn't rest at night if I didn't personally bring her home to you. No use tempting bad luck at night, right?"

"Good manners and chivalrous. A sign of impeccable parentage." Mrs. Tang mused aloud, studying him with an air of appraisal. Timmy shifted, then brought his hands forward, holding out a small decorative broach and matching money clip in shining gold.

"Just thought I should offer a couple of gifts as a sign of good intentions." he remarked with a hesitant smile, "These are kind of unique; nothing like them exists anywhere else in the world." Trixie looked down at the accessories with her parents in equally stunned silence.

"My word! They're beautiful!" her mother whispered, reaching out to collect the broach as her husband accepted the clip, "The only one of its kind... a marvelous gift. Thank you." Timmy looked faintly relieved, then made a hasty little attempt at a bow as he stepped back, watching Trixie enter the mansion even as she continued looking back at him in amazement.

"Well, good night, Ma'am, Sir, Trixie. I should be heading home." he added and shrugged almost carelessly, "I've got a meeting with the head of the Hounder Organization tomorrow. Can't be late for that!" He waved to the family and hurried away, breathing easier now that he was free of the situation.

So there was another player in the plot to rid the world of magic. Timmy frowned at the new situation he found himself in as he headed down the sidewalk. It couldn't have been mere coincidence that Remy, Crocker, Dr. Bender and Wendell were all at his funeral together in their own little group, and that same group was now involved in the Dark Spire project that threatened the world's magic. The partnership between Crocker and Remy made perfect sense, but what about the one between Remy and Bender? Bender's role was to make calls to Remy about happy patients and guard Spire connections underground. How did that link to Remy?

Remy wanted fairy godparents to boost his own magical influence. Most of Bender's patients were kids. So if he saw any of his patients were happy and he called Remy, the blonde would get a pretty good idea of who might have fairy godparents looking after them and would spend time targeting them. But why would Bender guard the underground connections? How?

Trixie mentioned that Remy would give Bender and Wendell minions. Bender would use the minions to search the sewers for signs of Chip Skylark. That would mean that Chip was still alive, hopefully, otherwise why bother to search the sewers? And if the minions were prowling around down there, then who's to say that they didn't make a quick check on wherever the Spire server connections were located?

"We have to search the sewers." Timmy finally remarked as Cosmo, Wanda and Anti-Cosmo all poofed out of their disguises and floated by him, "The way everything is set up, it sounds like the network is hidden in Dimmsdale's sewage system. And while we're down there, we may as well make a search for Chip Skylark ourselves." He looked up at the fairies and blinked at their scowls. "What? What'd I do?" he asked in alarm, "You guys look mad at me!"

"You conjured those presents!" Wanda snapped at him, "I told you over and over not to conjure anything!" The brunet's mouth fell open in disbelief. This issue _again_? Why did she keep going on and on about this?

"Wanda, what is **wrong** with me doing it?" he exclaimed, "I couldn't wish for anything back there; we were right in front of Trixie's parents! My being able to just make things without that poof of smoke is really handy! Didn't you see that?"

"But it's dangerous." Cosmo murmured and blinked in surprise as Timmy and Wanda both looked at him. He fidgeted and managed a small laugh. "Well, if you start being able to get things without needing wishes, then it tells Fairy World that something's wrong and..." He stiffened and suddenly held his head, grimacing. "Ow! Headache!" he yelped and whimpered as Wanda turned to help soothe him.

"Why would they care? As far as Fairy World is concerned, I'm still dead and you two are forever bound to me." Timmy grumbled. The pink-haired fairy gave him a desperate look, shaking her head as her eyes teared up.

"Timmy, we... that is... you..." she stammered brokenly and gasped at the anti-fairy fluttering between them.

"Let me handle this. You might want to pop back to your little mansion to tend to the idiot." Anti-Cosmo told the pair, then turned a fierce glare on the brunet as Cosmo and Wanda vanished from view, "Now you listen well, Timothy, because I shan't be repeating myself in this matter." Timmy stepped back in alarm as the anti-fairy transformed into a more adult human form, towering over the brunet with bat's wings stretched out intimidatingly. "You are young and stumbling about in the world with magical powers that you are desperately trying to master and enhance far too quickly. Conjuring is an art dedicated to wish-granting creatures; genies, pixies, fairies, anti-fairies, you get the idea." he hissed, "Your generating of items needlessly ripples through the field of magic that we contact for wish-granting. Magical creatures can sense it, and if they recognize that **you** are the one doing that, they **will** come for you."

"But Fairy World said...!" Timmy whimpered fearfully and winced as Anti-Cosmo bared his teeth at him, hissing spitefully.

"Shut up! They **will** come for you; they **will** rend this city to the ground to get you and this world **will** lose all hope of being saved within any of your friends' lifetimes!" he growled, "You understand **nothing**, you brainless little twit! Fairy World is only _one_ facet of the dangers you face if you keep disobeying your fairy guardians!" He relaxed then, pulling the wings back and giving the brunet a faintly pitying look. "Timothy, answer me this, please. Can you tell me who you are?" he asked softly. The brunet stared up at him, confusion filling his face. "Let me amend it then. Can you tell me _what_ you are?"

"I... I'm T-Timmy Turner, I'm hoping to b-be Dimmsdale's Hero..." Timmy stammered out a response.

"That's all?" Anti-Cosmo asked and watched the young immortal puzzle it over, then finally nod hesitantly, "I see. Good. Now, let me tell you what I have learned from my time in Fairy World and here on Earth during the time you've been in hiding with your fairies." He looked skyward, watching the stars above them. "Precious few know the truth." he whispered, "I am one of them. You are a violation of Nature, of everything we hold as sacred, unchangeable law. But you are also the embodiment of hopes and dreams that were once believed to have been lost forever. And you are the potential for a future that could either promise us all prosperity, or lead us to oblivion." The anti-fairy turned his gaze back down at the paling teen, "Dearest Timothy, your existence is both a blessing and a threat to every magical creature that lives. Fairy World is hovering on the brink of war. As long as you live, as long as you remain who and what you are, they will continue to hover in a stalemate. Progress in your strength, in your actions, in this quest to 'save the world', and hell will descend upon reality. All... for... you."

"War...?" Timmy echoed hollowly, wide-eyed and shaking, "For... me...? Why?" Anti-Cosmo smiled and reached out, brushing back the boy's hair in a strangely tender gesture.

"You're not ready to know. But watch yourself all the same, and my idiot doppleganger as well. The reason why they would want you if they discover you have magic is the same as the reason why they want Cosmo." he murmured, "And here is where I must leave you. Like I told you before, I've picked up information and I must follow where it leads me. You said you were murdered. I must find out why. When I've learned the truth, I'll return to fill you in. For the sake of your fairies, and perhaps my own as well, stop conjuring... or at least minimize it." Timmy blinked, startled at the words as Anti-Cosmo shifted back into his normal form, fluttering before him with a grin. "And in this rarest of rare moments... Cheerio, Timothy! Wish me luck!" he laughed and vanished in a burst of pale blue smoke. Timmy only stood there, staring at the empty space even as Cosmo and Wanda returned from the mansion and asked him what was wrong, alarmed by his shaken appearance.

"War..." he repeated faintly, puzzling the two fairies.

* * *

Romi watched her godchild fling old toys and clothes out of her closet in a storm of activity. Since coming home, Tootie had been digging into every drawer, nook and cranny in a frenzied search. The fairy knew exactly what she was looking for, and didn't feel at all comfortable with the idea of it.

"Sam said to stand on equal ground with him! Vicky says to change the tactics!" Tootie growled as she continued tearing through the closest, "I can't do any of that while I'm like this! I have to stand on equal ground! I have to make him want me more than Trixie! No, I have to have him _see_ for himself that I'm the girl for him!"

"Wouldn't it be easier to just ask him out on a date of your own and work your way up from there?" Romi asked hopefully and sighed as the little Goth let out a triumphant cry, "I suppose not." Tootie marched out of her closet with a box in hand, grinning fiercely.

"With this, I'll be able to take Sam and Vicky's advice and show Timmy that we were meant to be together." she told her fairy and opened the box. Romi looked up at her worriedly as she pulled a purple-tinted muffin from within the little box. "A rule-free wish... anything I want will be granted with a bite of the Fairy-versary Muffin." Tootie murmured, gazing down at the baked treat.

"Tootie, please, think it over." Romi urged, "This could backfire on us! Yes, Da Rules block wishes concerning Timothy Turner, but that's just a first-level defense! Wishes that directly affect him are against Fairy World's _laws_!" She waved a hand at the muffin. "I don't know if the Fairy-versary Muffin can breach that law without getting us in really deep trouble!"

"I'm not going to wish anything on Timmy, just me." Tootie assured her and looked down at the muffin in her hands. This was it. One bite and her wish would be granted; the playing field would be leveled. If all went well, she would have her heart's desire. If not...

She took a deep breath and held the muffin to her mouth. She had to make the wish accurate or it would all blow up in her face.

"I wish to be able to do what Sam says and stand on equal ground with Timmy Turner so that he can see me as a girl he could like and not just a little kid. I wish to be able to follow Vicky's advice and be strong enough and confident enough to have Timmy choose to like me for me." Tootie murmured, "I wish to be able to stand before him and prove that I can be the pillar of strength he needs when the fight to be a Hero wears down on him, so that he will always follow the right path and continue to be a Hero. And I wish that this will be the new memory of me, so that I can have a clean slate and not freak Timmy out." With that, she bit into the muffin. Bite after bite, one for each wish she made, she chewed, then twisted her face in disgust and spat the mouthful of muffin out.

"You can't wish for a better-tasting muffin." Romi pointed out automatically before the girl could blurt out the reactionary wish. Tootie wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, gagging.

"At this point, I'll take a glass of milk." she croaked and doubled over, hands pressing against her stomach as she groaned in discomfort, "Uuugghh... My stomach..." Romi fluttered off the bed, concern etched on her face as she watched her godchild sway on her feet.

"Tootie? Are you okay? What's wrong? Are you sick?" she called out worriedly, then froze and held her head, "Owww...! Wh-what's happening to me?"

"Romi... I feel like something's tearing me apart..." Tootie gasped out painfully as she stumbled towards her bed, "H-help...!" Her vision went hazy and she tripped, collapsing to the floor as sudden bursts of hot and cold racked her little body. The fairy flopped back onto the bed, looking almost dead with only sporadic shudders giving any sign that she was still alive. Tootie gasped weakly, reaching slowly out towards the muffin that rolled away from her hand as she curled into a fetal position on the soft black carpet.

Had the wish backfired? Was this the punishment for breaking a fairy law? Were the two of them going to die like this? It sure felt like she was dying. Her stomach twisted, her body couldn't decide whether it was burning up or freezing and she could feel sweat breaking out on her face, her glasses skewed by the fall.

"Timmy..." the little Goth whispered faintly, "I did this for you... No regrets..." And with that she let go of her consciousness, slipping away from reality.

.

A pounding on the door jolted Tootie awake sometime later. Briefly she wondered why Vicky would be yelling at her in the Great Beyond.

"Tootie! Twerp! Get your lazy, Gothic ass out of bed and get ready! The other twerp is calling some kinda meeting and wants the both of us there!" the carrot-top bellowed, "This better not be about a cut in my paycheck or you're seriously gonna get it from me!"

Tootie groaned softly and pushed herself up from the floor, eyes shut as her head swam. What exactly happened to her? She looked around tiredly, pausing with some amount of confusion as she spotted the remnants of her Fairy-versary Muffin lying nearby. Had she made a wish with it? She picked at her memory, sifting through the fog of the previous night. She remembered getting the Muffin after she let frustration and anger get to her about something... something that had to do with Trixie and Timmy. Then perhaps she _did_ make a wish with it, and then something had happened after that... Tootie strained her memory, but the rest was so much of a blur that it was nearly impossible to figure out if the wish had been granted or not.

She climbed slowly to her feet, using her bed as support until her legs stopped shaking enough to hold her weight. Romi moaned softly from her place on the wrought-iron bed, lifting herself up carefully as she pushed hair out of her face.

"What happened...? You were saying something about the Fairy-versary Muffin and then it all went kind of hazy. My head feels like someone tried to fill me up with helium." the fairy groaned and looked up at her godchild with a tired expression, "Are you okay?" Tootie nodded.

"Yeah. Are _you_ okay?" she returned and smiled in relief as the fairy also nodded, "That's good. I must have bitten into the Fairy-versary Muffin after making a wish. Did anything change?" Romi looked puzzled, then thought carefully before shaking her head.

"I don't think so. I can't really think clearly, though. It's like my memories have been made kind of fuzzy." she returned slowly, "Do you have a clearer memory?" Tootie considered the question, pushing her glasses up higher on her nose, then letting them slide back down.

"I don't feel any different." the young Goth remarked slowly, "And I don't really remember much about what exactly I wished for, but... I think it was granted. I'm not sure." She folded her arms over her chest, shaking her head. "A little too weird for this early in the morning." she muttered and put a hand to her head, "And yet, some part of me is nagging on about a big change. Like... I'm not the way I was before." Romi gave her a faintly skeptical look as she straightened herself up.

"Tootie, you look fine to me." she remarked logically, "I don't see why you're letting Trixie get to you with that whole 'body type' nonsense or the Muffin for making a mess of our memories in a wish that you claim was granted even though the both of us have no recollection of what the wish actually was." She waved her wand dismissively. "You look like a perfectly normal, healthy, intelligent and pretty fourteen-year-old girl living in Dimmsdale." she finished, "I mean, yes, we're technically part of a team that's working to destroy the Dark Spires which isn't really what average young humans do, but other than that, you're a normal teenager and we have to go see what Timothy wants at the Ivory Tower."

Tootie rolled her eyes at the remark, shaking her head in exasperation as she headed for the nearest mirror, her mind still puzzling over the events from the previous night. She could remember the battle at fourth Dark Spire, and how she wasn't doing so well without access to magic because of the loss of the aionis bracelets. She remembered getting angry at the end of it all because of something that was said about Trixie and Timmy. Strange, even though she remembered the events, they all seemed somewhat faded. Tootie thought back further; maybe her other memories had been affected as well?

Her childhood was almost as if someone had taken the roll of film that comprised her memories of it and then slathered on several jars of Vaseline to hide the whole thing. The feelings from it still permeated the film; frustration and love and sorrow and grief. Lots of grief. Grief that Timmy had died so young, that he had always had his eyes on Trixie Tang when she had been right there in front of him with her own love for him hidden behind the mask of friendship she shared with him and the 'Others'...

Wait, that... didn't seem right... Didn't she tell him as a kid how much she liked him? Tootie puzzled it over as she brushed out her hair, then tied it up in her usual pigtails so the ends brushed alongside her shoulders. It was a style she had worn since she was eight and to this day she stuck with it. Odd; had her hair always been that long? Hadn't it been shorter some time ago, or was that just a reminder to get it trimmed later? Oh, well. So her memory told her that she didn't tell Timmy how she felt and that had wounded her when he died, but some faint voice inside her conflicted with that. What should she believe; her own memories that were faded by whatever magic the Fairy-versary Muffin had unleashed, or a tiny voice that sounded too whiny and self-conscious to be her own?

She checked her clothes to be sure they looked all right; black tank top and deep violet skirt that fit well on her slender figure, and a pair of black boots that reached up to her knees with heels that added an extra inch to her height, a way of coping with her fear of being too short without publicly advertising it. The black Adventurer's Map 3000 on her arm had dulled slightly for some reason and her aionis bracelets remained snug on her wrists, catching the candlelight in her room and giving the illusion of the runic letters glowing all along the metal.

"Maybe..." Tootie murmured and turned to one side, looking herself over critically, "Maybe the whole thing was just some craziness the Muffin spat out because it was so old. I mean, it's been in there for a whole three years." She shrugged and reached into a small black box on her vanity, grabbing what was apparently her favorite color of lip gloss (as it felt that half the tube was already gone though she couldn't quite recall when she bought it) and applying the pale lavender to her lips as the finishing touch to a light makeup routine. "Oh well. Whatever the thing did, it either got it right or just stalled and said 'Screw it' to the wish." she finally decided and tossed the tube of gloss into her backpack before throwing it on, "Come on, Romi! Let's go see what Timmy wants so badly that he's even willing to get Vicky involved."

"Oh, good. Finally, something we can both agree on!" the fairy remarked brightly and poofed into the usual crescent moon earring guise dangling from one of Tootie's ears as she headed out the door.

* * *

Ivory Tower~

The team was already gathered in the Ivory Tower's conference room by the time Victoria and Tootie arrived. The young Goth looked around quickly, but didn't see any sign of Timmy in the room. She did see a blast of red smoke that signaled Apollo's hasty retreat into his disguise, hanging around Trixie's neck as she continued looking distant, a dreamy smile on her face. Tootie immediately bristled; that look probably had something to do with being around Timmy all by herself.

"He better not have done something stupid, or I'm gonna turn him inside out with _Holy Lance_!" she growled as she flopped into a seat by Sanjay.

"Good morning, Tootie, Miss Victoria!" Sanjay greeted cheerfully, "It is so nice to be able to wake up and see fewer Dark Spires in our skyline, yes?"

"Whatever." Victoria grumbled, drumming her fingers against the table top.

"Sanjay, guys, any idea why Timmy wanted us all together so early? I'm still a little out of it from last night." Tootie questioned, pushing aside her frustration in favor of gathering information.

"So are we, and we're not sure what he wanted either. He just said that he had some stuff to tell us and we all had to be together to start doing something about the next Spire." Elmer replied and looked worried, "Usually, we get some time to rest and recover from a Spire attack and Timmy spends that time training and working on new spells. Why is he in such a big hurry to go after the next Spire now?"

"Yeah. Between learning the Spire Server Systems are all connected together and adapting to us, and losing any hope of getting help from Team Phantom until Danny Phantom shakes off that whole 'turning evil' phase, we're basically doomed if we try an assault too soon!" A.J. agreed and waved a hand around wildly, "And Caleb said it himself; he's got no idea how to change him back without screwing him up! Timmy's gonna wind up sending us off on a suicide mission!"

"No he won't!" Tootie exclaimed fiercely, "He probably has a really good reason for this! Let's just hear him out and see, right, Chester?" The group looked towards the leader of the Others expectantly but he only stared off into the distance with a dull expression. "Chester?" Tootie called his name worriedly and the blonde snapped back to awareness.

"Huh? Uh, right." he replied dully and sighed, resting his head on his arms, "I'm not feeling all that great right now. Can you not bother me for a while, 'kay?" The group blinked at him in surprise.

"It's worse than I thought." A.J. remarked, earning puzzled stares from his friends.

"A.J., shut up. I'm not in the mood." Chester muttered irritably, "When the hell is he showing up?" The doors slid open and the group turned to see Timmy step into the room, stiffening in alarm at his disheveled appearance. The brunet yawned, then trudged to the head of the table, ignoring the gaping stares of his friends. Clad once again in classic pink, his clothes were rumpled, a tear running up one side of his shirt with smudges of dirt staining it and his jeans.

"What happened?" Tootie exclaimed in shock, shooting out of her seat as she took in his appearance. Was he hurt? Injured? Did he need healing? Timmy glanced at her almost negligently as he continued walking, paused, then looked back at her with a strange expression. She blinked; why was he staring at her like that? He blinked back, shook his head and pressed the heel of one hand to his forehead, wincing.

"I'm okay. I'm just kinda worn-out." he replied, "You're probably wondering why you're all sitting here. Fact is, Trixie gave me some information that could lead us straight to the server connections so we can cut them." Team Turner perked up at the news, looking over at the raven-haired Popular as she continued looking up at the teen in concern. "We're looking at a third party involved in the Dark Spire project; Dr. Bender and his kid, Wendell." he explained, "According to Trixie, Remy made a deal with Bender about helping him find fairy godparents. You guys said that after I died, Chip Skylark disappeared, and the rumors say he threw himself into the sewers, right?"

"Yeah. Most people just wrote him off as a suicide and set up a grave for him in the cemetery, though people occasionally report hearing him singing from various drainage ditches around the city." Elmer agreed, tilting his head in confusion, "But what does that have to do with the Spires and why are you all beat up?"

"I don't really remember, okay?" Timmy griped, "After Trixie said that Bender was defending the Spires underground and we both figured that meant the connections were also underground, I decided to try to get the city map of the Dimmsdale sewer system." He pulled his hands over his face. "When the heck did City Hall get hounds? I was doing so well getting through the building and then my brain suddenly shuts off and when I wake up, there's a lousy rottweiler chewing on my arm."

"You should've bitten it back." Victoria pointed out. The brunet glared at her.

"I shocked it a little and did a quick heal. But I had to bail 'cause some alarm got tripped." he grumbled, "A.J., can you get into the records system and get those maps?"

"Yeah, why? You're not thinking of going down there, are you?" the African-American asked incredulously.

"The Spires' network is probably using the sewer system to mask itself. If we want to make the next attack and keep the last few Spires from learning about our styles, we have to cut the network." Timmy returned and looked across the table at Victoria, "Vicky... uh, sorry, Victoria, I want you to join Team Turner as an attacking member. Anti-Cosmo left for Fairy World last night so we won't have him in the next attack." He stopped, closed his eyes and shook his head. "Okay, wait. I'm sorry, but I gotta ask this. Tootie, when did **you** start wearing makeup?" he asked the girl. Tootie lifted an eyebrow and sat back, folding her arms over her chest.

"When did you start caring about what I wear?" she returned, looking so much like her mentor Timmy had to blink twice to be sure it was Tootie and not Sam griping at him, "I thought you'd be busy making eyes with Miss Popular over there."

"You want me to replace the little flying English dude? Do I get hazard pay?" Victoria asked dryly.

"No, but you get to destroy a whole lot of really expensive nullifier units." Timmy returned, glaring at Tootie briefly before looking over the rest of his group, stopping with uncertainty at his best friend, "Chester? Are you okay?"

"Does everybody have to ask me that?" the blonde muttered in irritation, sitting back and shutting his eyes, "I'm fine. Just tell us what the plan is."

"I don't really know yet. We can't make a move until we sever the connections. The network is underground, in the sewer system, which we can't get through until we have a map to guide us through it." Timmy answered with a sigh and a shrug, "Otherwise, we'll just be lost down there for days."

"You're also going to need the layout for the Dark Spires' network. That way, we can find the lines to cut to isolate the tower we're going to attack." Trixie added quickly.

"But which Spire is the target this time?" Sanjay asked, watching the brunet tap at the keys by the monitor on the wall behind him. A map appeared on the screen, small black dots that pinpointed the locations of the Dark Spires. Timmy pointed at one not far from the commercial side of Dimmsdale.

"This one. There's a junkyard in its region that I want to get to as soon as possible, but there are too many nullifier units scattered around there and I'm copying Cosmo and Wanda's traits again." he returned, "I walk in there and I'm out of the game." He grinned tiredly back at the group. "Let's have a week to rest up and gather the information, the maps and stuff. Next Friday, we'll search the sewers for the network connections and clip them."

"Um, that's bad timing." Elmer pointed out hesitantly, "Next Friday is Friday the Thirteenth. Isn't that going to be...?"

"Bad luck?" Timmy filled in and nodded, "Yeah, but Anti-Cosmo won't hit me with bad luck, and neither will the other anti-fairies. Plus, it's good timing. If he's out looking for information of his own to figure things out, he'll have a better chance of showing up to pass info on that day." He waved a hand dismissively towards the map. "Meantime, everyone rest up. We did good last night." He looked vaguely puzzled as he rubbed his head. "At least... I think we did..."

* * *

The next few days were spent recovering from the attack on the Spire and gaining access to the information Timmy told them about. School was fairly easy to deal with in comparison to that, though Tootie was finding it strange that she was getting more attention than she was used to having. At least, as far as she could recall. And it looked as though it was irritating Trixie to some extent, as some of the many fans that trailed after her occasionally glanced away to stare at Tootie as she walked down the halls of Oberon High beside Timmy. Add to that the fact that the new attention seemed to be getting on the brunet's nerves, and Tootie was ready to snap at the sheer stupidity of it all. For the love of God, she was a Goth and she wasn't trying to get attention from anyone but the teen standing beside her! Why the heck was all this happening now?

She blamed the Muffin, she blamed Da Rules, and then, because she was feeling spiteful that day, she blamed Timmy's ignorance. Being a boy, and a stupid boy at that, Timmy didn't notice. Or maybe he didn't care, which ticked Tootie off even more.

"I'm only here to be your bodyguard so Remy doesn't try pulling any tricks on you while we're in school." she told him irritably as they headed for the next class together, "If you're just gonna be an ass about this, I can just ask one of the Others to take my place."

"A.J. and Sanjay are busy looking up the Dimmsdale sewer maps, I don't want Elmer coming near me with my other hat or that's gonna tip off somebody, Trixie is trying to get the layout for the Spire network connections by trolling the Populars and Chester's ticked off at me for some stupid reason." Timmy argued back under his breath, "You're the only one not doing anything, so you have to stay with me."

"Why do I get the feeling that **I'm** the one being guarded?" she growled, clutching her books tighter to herself to keep from hurling a spell at the boy. Honestly, she had a hard time remembering why she liked the guy sometimes!

It didn't even end after school was done. Tootie had decided that a good way of figuring out exactly what Bender and Wendell were doing in their deal with Remy was to go to their dental practice and snoop around a little. So she asked Chester if he would go along to act as a decoy so she could poke through Bender's records with Romi's help.

"It sounds cool. He won't be able to mess with my braces now that they've got mythril in 'em and A.J.'s been modding the hell out of 'em." Chester remarked with some amount of cheerfulness, "So it's just the two of us doing this?"

"Actually, Timmy's insisting on going along on this one so he can find clues about Chip Skylark." Tootie told him and the blonde looked sour.

"Then I'm out." he amended, "Sorry, but I've got a bone to pick with our undead friend and until I can figure out how to pop him one without gettin' flame-broiled right back, I'm not on speaking terms with him." The young Goth glared at him, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Okay, so why the heck do you want to start a fight with Timmy?" she demanded.

"It's a guy thing; you wouldn't understand, Toots." Chester replied and gave her a friendly wink, "By the way, I never knew you could pull off wearing makeup kinda nice. You been taking tips from Tricks or somethin'?" She sighed and shook her head.

"Sam gave me pointers, and keep the compliments in check. Timmy's suddenly got an itchy trigger finger for fireballs ever since people have started looking at me funny." she returned and headed off with a wave of her hand, "Whatever this 'guy thing' is, I hope you deal with it and it doesn't bite you in the butt!"

So Chester wouldn't be helping her in this mini-mission. That was all right. She'd just send Timmy in his place. No problem. Tootie told him about her change in plan and he balked at the idea. She pulled him along, arguing and debating and biting at each other until they reached Bender's office doors, never once thinking that their bickering was earning them more stares from people on the street than normal.

They headed into the building and made their way to the reception desk, making up a story about Timothy Neogene having an awful toothache and unable to get his personal dentist to fly in fast enough to deal with it. The receptionist called Bender in to let him know about the new appointment and jumped with the two teens as the office door flew open and the dentist himself hurried out with his perpetual grin showing off massive 'perfect' teeth.

"Tootie! It's been too long! C'mere and let me see those perfect pearlies of yours! Smile!" he declared and pulled her mouth open to inspect her teeth. She heard a soft growl from the brunet beside her and rolled her eyes, impatient to have control of her mouth back. "Uh huh. I see. Yes, very nice. Perfectly perfect, like I wanted!" Dr. Bender exclaimed brightly, "I could just steal them from under your nose, they're that perfect!"

"Thanks, I guess." Tootie returned with a forced laugh, "Nice to see you, too, Dr. Bender."

"Wendell! Get in here! It's our good little patient, Tootie!" the large man yelled over his shoulder and his son hurried out of the office to join him. Side by side, the two looked so remarkably similar, it made Tootie's skin crawl. She didn't like either one of them a single bit, especially after she had learned that both of them had been mean to Timmy when he was alive. Bender pat his son on the back with a hearty laugh. "Perfect teeth, boy! See? I told you that we could straighten her out if we just kept at it!"

"You should have come visit us sooner, Tootie! We missed seeing your perfect teeth!" Wendell agreed, rubbing his hands together as his smile grew to match his father's. The growl beside Tootie grew a touch louder. She rubbed her head nervously. Anymore of this and she wouldn't be surprised to have the building suddenly burn down around them.

"Um, right. So can you guys help out my friend here?" she asked and jabbed Timmy in the side with her elbow, both to get him to shut up and to remind him that he was supposed to be in pain.

"Ow!" he complained, then blinked and hurriedly put his hand to his cheek, "Owowow! My tooth! It hurts! Make it stop! I can't have a toothache before I can throw a huge expensive party at my mansion! I'll give anyone who can stop the pain huge gobs of money!" Bender immediately grabbed the teen by one hand and headed for his office.

"Don't you worry! I'll have your teeth perfectly perfect before you know it! Wendell, keep Tootie company for a while!" he called back as they vanished into the next room.

"Uh, that's not really... necessary..." Tootie began in alarm, then trailed off as she spotted the equally large boy sidle closer to her, still grinning hugely and trying to look charming, though creepy seemed to describe him better. She groaned under her breath, her face taking on a faintly disgusted look. "Ugh. Great." Taking a deep breath, she recomposed herself and forced a smile at the teen. "So, how are you?" she asked inanely.

"Same old, same old." Wendell returned nasally, "I love what you've done with your teeth! That purple whatever-it-is really makes those pearly whites stand out!" Tootie stepped aside to gain some space. What was _with_ this family and their obsession with teeth?

.

Timmy fidgeted nervously in the dentist's seat, staring down at the straps that held his wrists, waist and ankles in place. They were familiar and a standard for Bender's practice, as every patient that was ever plunked into the chair immediately tried to bolt for the door. Bender and Wendell gave off that joint creepy feeling that got on everyone's nerves, and it didn't help that they loved working without anesthesia on people. How they managed to stay in business in Dimmsdale was one of those great mysteries, even greater than deciding whether Timmy was dead, alive, or some weird mix of the two states. Wanda had squirmed free of being pinned under the leather strap and popped into the guise of a swimsuit model on a nearby calendar once Bender's back was turned on them.

"Is this really necessary? I mean, the tooth pain is gone now! It's like a miracle or something!" Timmy blurted out in a rising panic, "How about I write you a check for your time and we can just let the whole thing slide?"

"But where's the fun in that?" Bender asked over his shoulder and turned around to grin at the brunet, holding something behind his back, "Don't you worry; I've got a special present for the upper-class patients that makes them oh so happy!" He paused and seemed to consider something. "Unless you're already happy. Are you happy already?" he questioned with a grin. Timmy shook his head quickly, hoping that whatever Tootie was doing to get the records was being done as fast as possible. "Oh, all right. Well, head's up!" Bender exclaimed cheerfully and pulled a gas mask over the teen's head, "I'll have that tooth problem all taken care of! Can't have cavities attacking perfect teeth!"

"I changed my mind! I don't have a toothache! Tootie, get me out of here!" Timmy shrieked and the dentist pat him on the head with his huge smile still unchanged.

"Now, now, don't worry about your friend! She's in good hands with my boy!" Bender remarked brightly, "They're gonna be a great couple! Good thing she grew up just right and such perfect teeth, too!" The brunet twisted and struggled furiously. "I was worried for a minute that she might still be hung up over Bucky the Buck-Toothed Tooth Boy over in that cemetery, but it looks like she got over _that_ dental disaster!"

"Whah?" Timmy breathed in confusion, mind spinning in a daze. Why did that seem like a surprise? Hadn't he already known that she had a crush on him, or was that wishful thinking on his part? But why think that? Did he...?

Thinking was tiring, as was keeping his eyes open. He glanced up at at the calendar, faintly amused by the expression on Wanda's face as she held her pose in a yellow bikini. So many emotions flickering across her tiny face, it was impossible to tell what she was feeling. Timmy managed the tiniest of smiles at her through the plastic of the mask, then faded to sleep.

"Right. Now, let's see where the problem is." Bender remarked, pulling the gas mask away and bringing around his tray of tools. He pulled on a pair of gloves, wiggled his fingers about to work out the kinks, then opened the brunet's mouth for examination. "Let's see here... huh?" the dentist blinked, then glared with narrowed eyes at the boy's teeth, "These look awfully familiar. I've seen teeth like this before." He stepped back and headed for the office door, giving time for Cosmo to join his wife in the calendar photo.

"Now what? Bender recognizes people by their teeth and Timmy's haven't changed enough to throw that off!" Wanda whispered in a panic. She waved her hands nervously, then blinked as a light went off over her head. Cosmo pointed at the bulb hovering over her and laughed.

"That's an idea, right?" he asked and Wanda started pushing at him.

"Go find Tootie and tell her to hurry up with her search!" she exclaimed, "Or to quit and help get Timmy out of here before Bender blows his cover!" The green-haired fairy blinked and nodded, then flew down to poof himself into the guise of a mouse scurrying towards the open door.

"Wendell! Can you come here a moment, dear son of mine with teeth just as perfect as mine?" Bender called out, unaware of the green mouse that dashed through right under his nose.

.

In the lobby, Tootie found herself holding out her hands to keep the dentist's apprentice at arm's length as he smooched the air before her, her nose wrinkled up in annoyance and disgust.

"Okay, you might have perfect teeth, but that doesn't extend to your breath!" she grumbled, "And I don't kiss _before_ the first date!" She heard Bender call out to his son and breathed a sigh of relief as Wendell whined at the interruption. She watched him disappear into the room where Timmy was and glanced over at the bored receptionist. "Romi, I wish the lady over there had the day off." she whispered to the earring. There was the tinkling of the wand being waved and Tootie watched the phone ring at the desk. The woman picked up the phone, answered it, then took on an ecstatic expression as she hurriedly set it down and raced out of the building so fast, she seemed almost a blur. The fairy poofed free of her earring guise as Tootie blinked in surprise. "What was that about?" she asked her fairy.

"Well, I couldn't really interfere with love, but I sent a note with a suggestion to her boyfriend. I think he jumped at the idea of a spur of the moment dinner date." Romi remarked with a sheepish laugh.

"That's sweet." Tootie murmured and got up from the sofa, "Let's go get those records." The two of them hadn't even left the lobby when a small green mouse ran up to them and waved its paws frantically.

"Hey! Hey! Wanda says to hurry up and get the stuff or come help us get Timmy out of here!" Cosmo exclaimed. Tootie bent to pick him up, an alarmed look on her face as Romi held her hands before her mouth in surprise.

"What? Why? What happened?" the Goth asked.

"Bender recognizes people from their teeth. Timmy still has the buck teeth from when he was ten; they only got adjusted to be a little smaller, but they're still there!" the fairy-mouse blurted out, "So Bender might figure out who he is!"

"Just great. Okay, Romi, go ahead and search the records room for anything that has to do with Crocker, Remy, or the Spires." Tootie told her fairy godmother quickly, "Cosmo, can you help her out? Two fairies doing the search is faster than one. I'll go and see what's going on." The three split up and Tootie hurried to the office door, pushing it open a crack as she peered inside.

"The teeth brings back memories, but the clothes throw me off. It could just be a coincidence." Wendell remarked as Bender held Timmy's mouth open for examination, "What did he say his name was?"

"Eh, never bothered to find out. Check his wallet." the dentist returned. Tootie knocked loudly on the door, causing both father and son to jump in surprise.

"Hey! How's it going?" she asked brightly, throwing open the door and strolling into the office, "I just got a call from Timothy's dentist and she just arrived and is waiting for her darling patient! So, I'll just pick him up and we'll be on our way..." The dentist and his apprentice looked at each other, puzzled, then with surprised looks.

"Timothy?" Bender echoed.

"With the buck teeth?" Wendell added. They spun around and bent their heads close together, muttering quickly. Tootie swallowed and raced to undo the straps holding down the brunet as he dozed quietly in the chair. She looked around in a panic; if Cosmo was in the records room with Romi, where was Wanda? She heard a hiss and glanced up at a pink-haired swimsuit model waving at her from the calendar.

"Here." Wanda whispered and waved her wand, undoing all the straps in a magical sweep, "Now move!" Tootie looked helplessly at the sleeping boy; how was she to move him?

"Man." she sighed and pulled Timmy up onto her back, "Not how I wanted to spend my day..." The momentary surprise at how light he felt quickly passed as she raced through the door, the fairy godmother zipping after her. Bender and Wendell finally turned to make a final judgment on the situation, then blinked at the empty room, baffled by the sudden vacancy.

"Hey! Where did she go?" Wendell exclaimed, looking around as Bender threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Why weren't you watching her? Is that how you take care of the girls I get you? No wonder you're still dateless!" he griped and stuck his head out the door to scowl at the empty lobby, "And our desk clerk ran for it, too. Is it so hard to get good help nowadays?"


	16. Chapter 16

16

Romi picked through the filing cabinets, sifting through papers and folders quickly in search of the key words Tootie had told her to look for. Working at another cabinet, Cosmo was doing the same, speeding through files with a strange intensity that was reminiscent of a soldier on a mission. Well, this basically **was** a mission of sorts, so she shouldn't be all that surprised. Another search in a new cabinet and she hit paydirt, pulling out a file with what appeared to be a map printed on the sheet. It definitely passed along the points that were marked by the Spires on Timothy's map back at the Ivory Tower. This must be the layout of the network connections.

"Got a map! How about you?" Romi whispered cheerfully to the older godfather nearby.

"Nothing yet, except maybe an appetite." Cosmo returned, diving into another file cabinet and scattering the papers about in a frantic search, "Come on, come on! I know there's got to be something in here...!" Romi fluttered over to watch him flip through folders and toss them out one after another.

"What are you looking for?" she asked, stuffing the map into one of her sleeves, "Maybe I can help find it."

"Anything connected to Chip Skylark. We're gonna be looking for him, too." the fairy godfather muttered, tearing through several more folders. Romi opened another cabinet and started picking through those files, pausing at the sound of voices just outside the room.

"Uh oh. Sounds like someone's coming." she murmured and poked at Cosmo with the end of her wand, "We have to get out of here! There are people coming!" The older fairy popped out of the cabinet, wand in mouth, and blinked up at her. "Let's go, let's go! Tootie and Timothy are already waiting for us, I bet!" Romi urged and vanished in a burst of dark blue smoke. Cosmo shrugged, dropped his wand back into his hand and followed after in a burst of green smoke, leaving a messy room to be discovered by a puzzled Bender and Wendell.

.

The two fairies appeared in an alley, looking around in faint surprise. They were right by the dentist's office; Tootie hadn't run far at all! The Goth stood by the dozing brunet, tapping her foot in irritation.

"Of all the times to conk out on me...!" she grumbled as she watched Wanda try waking her godchild without using magic, "Can't you just zap him awake?"

"It'll be a bit of a shock, but here goes." the pink-haired fairy sighed and flew back, aiming her wand at Timmy. A blast of fairy magic erupted from the star, hitting the brunet dead on. With a startled yelp, Timmy jumped awake and waved his arms in a panic.

"Yow! Hey! What was that for?" he exclaimed and rubbed his head, glaring up at his godmother, "Wanda! Couldn't you have tried something a little less... zappy?"

"Sorry, Sport, but we needed you up _now_." she returned, "Tootie can't carry you the whole way back to the Ivory Tower." Romi and Cosmo fluttered down to join them and Wanda lit up, hugging her husband in greeting. "You're okay! Did you get anything?" she asked.

"We found the layout of the network connections." Romi replied for him, pulling the map from her sleeve and handing it to Tootie for study, "But there were people coming to the records room, and we had to escape before we could find anything about Chip Skylark." Timmy stood and looked over Tootie's shoulder at the paper, studying it with her.

"Too bad about that, but we can try a normal search later. Did Bender find me out?" he asked.

"Not sure, but it sounded like he was too confused to put everything together." Tootie returned and looked over her shoulder at him, "And can you give me some space here? It's hard enough trying to figure this thing out without you breathing on my neck!" The brunet scowled and stepped back, folding his arms over his chest in indignation.

"Maybe you'd concentrate easier if _Wendell_ was looking over your shoulder." he growled and Tootie matched his scowl with one of her own.

"Knock it off! Geez, four years as one of the walking dead and you turn into such a jealous freak!" she snapped at him, "What do you care about what happens to me? You've already got Trixie wrapped around your finger!" She sniffed and tossed her hair, the pigtails lashing about wildly. "As I remember, you were always running away from me!" she growled and waved her hands before her as if to ward him off, "'Oh my gosh! It's the creepy Goth girl! Run away before she impales us on her braces!'"

"Forget it. I was only worried because you don't know how boys think in modern times, but if you think you can deal with it, fine." Timmy growled back, "Go ahead; get screwed over! Just don't expect me in the front row of whatever talk show you run to when the whole thing goes sour!"

"This is Dimmsdale, not New York! We don't have crazy, immoral crud going on here!" Tootie snapped back and the brunet raised his hands to his face, feigning shock.

"Really? So you're telling me I just hallucinated being murdered here as a little kid?" he retaliated mockingly, "Maybe I should just go out there and ask people on the street about it; ya know, just to be sure if it happened or not? 'Hello, Random Stranger, my name's Timmy Turner! Can you tell me if I'm really dead or is that whole falling-from-the-jungle gym-and-breaking-my-neck thing just an April Fool's joke the town decided to play on me _at the beginning of freaking August?_'!"

"It's always gotta be about **you**, huh?" the Goth snapped back and spun around, "I don't have to take this from some undead jerk! Romi! I wish we were home!" She and her fairy godmother vanished in a burst of dark blue smoke.

"Well, I hope you're proud of yourself, Timmy." Wanda berated him, "How could you be so heartless to that poor girl?" The brunet pulled his hands over his face, sighing in exasperation.

"It's not me! It's her!" he protested at last, throwing his arms out at the empty space where Tootie had been, "She does that to me! I don't know, she just brings that out! It's been getting on my nerves ever since she found out I was still alive and bugged me until she became part of the team!"

"It's like you're married!" Cosmo laughed brightly and held his sides as he laughed harder. Timmy scowled and marched out of the alley, not waiting for the fairies to poof themselves into their standard disguises. Really, the whole thing was Tootie's fault, not his; couldn't anyone see that?

* * *

The Friday deadline was approaching quickly, with the brunet pacing nervously by A.J. and Sanjay as the two boys continued combing through the City Hall online network to find the map to the Dimmsdale sewers. Trixie sat across from them, miffed at the idea that Tootie had gotten the network connection layout before she could. She had hoped that getting that information would earn more points with the young immortal. The only useful thing that happened from it was the obvious new friction between Timmy and Tootie. That had been entertaining to see when the two of them had shown up in the Ivory Tower.

"Will you stop pacing around already? You're making me think we're being spied on or something!" A.J. snapped back at the brunet, "I'm getting close to those blueprints, so why don't you go do something else for a while?"

"Like what?" Timmy asked harshly, "I can't think of anything but all the crud that's happened to us!"

"Why don't you give Team Phantom a call and ask how Danny is doing? Perhaps he has regained some of his sanity?" Sanjay suggested, holding out a phone. Timmy shook his head.

"I already did this morning. Sam said that he's gotten a little better since they left Dimmsdale last Friday; he's not blowing things up for no reason whenever she lets go of him with the Seal." he returned and sighed, "But it's gonna take a lot more work with the Eternal Sword Pin to get him back to normal. I keep hoping he'll be okay soon, keep putting the memory of who he really is in my head and push that over the thought of what he got turned into, but... I dunno."

"Long distance mana overwrite?" A.J. asked with a slight grin, "What do you think you are? A fairy recorder?" Timmy stuck out his tongue.

"_Pbbt!_ I wished myself into being a fairy once and I couldn't get the hang of things then, what makes you think I can do that kind of magic now?" he shot back and rolled his eyes, "Fairy, sure. I'm dead, not stupid."

"Well then, how about going to see why Chester still looks mad?" Elmer suggested between bites of his snack. Trixie perked up and looked over at the stockier boy in interest. The blonde leader of the Others? Angry? She hadn't heard much of that, most of her attention had been on keeping an eye on the relationship between Timmy and Tootie. She watched as Timmy shrugged and headed out of the room, then stood to follow.

"And where do you think you are going?" Sanjay asked her suspiciously.

"To see what's going on." Trixie returned haughtily and hurried off to catch up with the brunet. She took up pace beside him and put her hands behind her back, a small smile on her face. "I'm glad you got the network layout for the Dark Spires. It must have been awfully risky, knowing that Bender could have recognized you while Tootie was doing her search." she remarked.

"I was hoping to get some info on Chip, but we had to get out before anything came up for him." Timmy sighed and wove his hands behind his head, "Anyways, I'd better find out what's up with Chester. I want the team to still be working together when we search the sewers." He glanced over at her with a grin. "I could use some backup down there. How about going in with me? With the two of us, whatever minions or alligators are down there won't stand a chance!" Trixie swallowed hard, mind jumping to the image of a dark, dank, dirty tunnel filled with sewer water, rats, disease...

She shuddered despite her best attempts to hide it and the smile on the brunet's face vanished just as quickly as any hope she had of currying favor for the day.

"Eh, that's okay. The sewer isn't the best place for a pretty girl to be in, anyway." Timmy played off the silent rejection and stopped at the entrance to the training room. Pressing his fingers to the door-pad, he watched the door slide open, then walked in. "Yah!" he cried in alarm as one of the practice drones flew by him and smashed against the wall. In a flash, he brought up the mana shield, a spiral of red-gold Fire mana spheres blossoming around his free hand. "Chester? What the heck is wrong with you?" the brunet yelled angrily once he had calmed enough to see the drone had been rammed by the blonde in the room.

"Oh, it's just you. Next time, watch when you come in." Chester returned evenly, folding his arms over his chest as Tootie stood by him with her sword and dagger drawn. Both were dressed in their black armor, surrounded by the remains of several mechanical targets. Trixie stepped in beside the brunet, frowning at the scene before her. The Goth girl again; when would she learn to stay away from the boys she had her eyes on? She paused and retraced her thoughts. Wait, _boys_? As in more than one boy? Her interest was in the immortal standing beside her, protected by magic she found as fascinating as Apollo's. Why would she pay attention to the blonde in the room? He was so much at the bottom of the social ladder that the world would simply die if she was seen with him.

Yet, how often was she around him, feeling absolutely comfortable with his company? And neither one of them ever mentioning status or wealth, or lack thereof?

"How about you watch where you're hurling those drones around?" Timmy snapped, dropping the shield and the _Bulla Scintillare_ spell harmlessly back into the mana around them. He marched towards the two armored teens and stood before them, face reddening with building anger. "So how long have the two of you been in here alone?" he demanded.

"Like that's any of your business!" Tootie shot back and huffed, "What's wrong with Chester? More like, what's wrong with **you**? You're the one with the sudden jealousy streak!"

"I'm not jealous! What do I have to be jealous about? It's not like we're together or anything!" the brunet returned bitingly.

"Yeah, you kinda made that obvious all throughout elementary school!" the Goth declared, "What, I wasn't good enough for you? Pretty enough? Rich enough? Looks like you got what you wanted out of Miss Popular over there!"

"Hey! Leave me out of this!" Trixie snarled, clenching her hands into tight little fists, "At least I'm not out hanging around a bunch of social rejects like some little Gothic slut!"

"Don't you ever call Tootie that!" Chester hissed at her, "Social rejects? Is **that** how you see us? What about **you**? You're hanging around us, too! Or are you just here to try getting into Dead-Boy's pants? Who's the real whore in this room?"

"Will everyone stop talking about my pants?" Timmy shrieked, clutching his head to keep from sending a blast of fireballs in random directions, "We're supposed to be a team!"

"Uh, yeah, we _are_ a team!" Chester retorted, "We've just been one without **you** for about four years! If you hadn't noticed, you died and ran for the Big Apple, and I had to step in as Leader of the Others to keep everyone from getting screwed over by Populars in search of coping with their fists!"

"Hey, **I** was the original leader!" the brunet argued, jerking a thumb at himself.

"And you didn't do shit to protect us! Your idea of keeping us safe was probably making wishes to draw all the attention to **you**!" the blonde snapped back, "Hell, half the time you pulled those stunts, we wound up in bigger trouble than if you _hadn't_ done anything! I'm **still** trying to get over that whole dangling-over-a-pool-of-molten-lava thing just 'cause you decided it'd be fun to play secret agent!"

"I wished away my emotions, not wished for a spy job! And I went in there to save your butt, didn't I?" Timmy yelled.

"Probably with Wanda and Cosmo's help! Face it! Without them, without magic, you'd be helpless to any five-year-old that can throw a rock!" Chester sneered.

"You're lucky they're not with me right now." Timmy hissed, "Or I'd have to call Caleb, Raine **and** Mint to patch together what would have been left over after they got through with you." He straightened and cracked his knuckles. "Fine. If it's a fight you want, then you'll get one. No magic on my end, no armor on yours." he growled, "Even if you're a year older than me, I'm still gonna teach you to respect someone who's seen the darker side of the world."

"You obviously haven't seen what's really gone on in the back alleys of Dimmsdale. City's changed, Beaver-Boy, and you should know what you're really getting into coming back here." the blonde returned, shedding the armor and standing before the young immortal in his usual outfit of jeans, black shirt and tattered army jacket. "First to cry 'Uncle' takes back all the stupid crap he said." he added and then grinned, "And has to take the girl the winner picks out on a date."

"Oh, wonderful. Now we're prizes." Tootie remarked sarcastically as she and Trixie moved to the edge of the room for safety.

"I don't see how this is going to prove anything beyond the fact that they're both acting so immature." the Popular grumbled.

"We finally agree on something." Tootie muttered, "A miracle. Just don't go messing with Chester's head when Timmy wins." The older girl by her laughed incredulously.

"Oh, you're so sure that he's gonna make me date the trailer park kid? He'll probably make you go. Lord knows your freaky Goth talk is torture enough." she returned snidely, then looked back at the two boys taking up stances only a few feet from each other. A faintly worrying thought came to her mind. Which boy should she be rooting for? Obviously Timmy; she was certain he would win and cheering for him might gain her the points she lost earlier. But Chester was a really great fighter on his own; she hadn't believed it at all when he actually faced off against Remy and held his own up until the rich brat sunk Apollo's sword into him in a moment of distraction.

Which one did she want to win?

No time to decide. The two teens already began their clash, slamming into each other full force with angry yells. Tootie was just as silent as she was, Trixie noticed, eyes darting back and forth fearfully between blonde and brunet as blows were exchanged, blocked, diverted. So she had the same issue. Trixie sighed and held her hands together glumly. If only she could use a wish, but all the fairies had gone off to a meeting in some neutral space to figure things out for themselves. They had promised to only be gone for an hour or so, not long enough to need a fairy substitute, but long enough for the godchildren to be a little nervous without magical protection.

Timmy _was_ kind of impressive, holding his ground even without the use of magic. Whoever taught him his basic martial arts had been pretty good at it, though most of the maneuvers were evasive in nature, a few were defensive, and he only struck aggressively when it looked as though Chester would be unable to defend against the blow. The raven-haired Popular bit the tip of her thumbnail, worried. That was a major difference. Timmy was trained for fast strikes, quick escapes and minimal detection, placing a huge emphasis on his speed and agility, and all to keep himself hidden. His power was entirely based on his magic and the strengths of his fairy godparents. Chester was fairly balanced, fast, but powerful, with heavy strikes that broke through defenses and his own defense strong enough to withstand a good number of blows before it even made a dent in his technique.

She juggled the two styles in her head and winced. This wasn't going to end well.

"Ugh!" Timmy grunted, skidding along the floor after a sudden shoulder rush slammed against the weak barrier of his arms and sent him flying. He scrabbled to his feet, tumbling away from another attempt at a charge.

"He's too slender." Tootie finally muttered with a shake of her head, "Too light. I knew it. That's why I was able to lift him up back at Bender's place. Chester's gonna cream him if he doesn't boost himself with magic." She pulled a hand over her face and groaned. "And he's too stubborn to admit defeat, too proud to admit he needs magic to support himself; that stupid jerk. If he wasn't already dead, I would've said that he was gonna get himself killed." Trixie looked at her in surprise, then returned to watching the brawl in concern. Yes, she was right. Chester was holding back again, softening the street moves that delivered lethal blows for the sake of not seriously injuring the younger boy. Apparently, the blonde had discovered Timmy's weakness early in the fight, too.

"C'mon, already! Just say it and let's get this over with! We got more important stuff to do!" Chester snapped at the brunet as he recovered from another kick to the side. Timmy struggled to get up and shook his head. "You're a stubborn little bastard, you know that?"

"Remy could have told you that." the young immortal growled and rubbed the corner of his mouth with the back of his fist, "I've been through purgatory and back; I'm not giving up in some stupid little training room!"

"You can barely stand after that last attack! Timmy, just throw in the towel already!" the blonde returned, this time with more concern than anger in his tone, "I don't want to hurt you!"

"You've been holding back on me?" Timmy snapped in renewed fury, "Do you think I'm **that** weak? I might not have been the most athletic kid in school, but give me some credit here! I trained with Caleb in magic, but it was Danny Phantom who taught me to fight!" He shot forward in a blur of blue, black and brunet... and stopped dead in his tracks as Chester braced himself and nailed him squarely in the abdomen with a tiger's paw strike. Tootie and Trixie both stepped forward in alarm. For a moment, neither combatant moved. The expression of surprise on Timmy's face remained only for that moment. It melted away as he closed his eyes with a faint pained sigh, sinking to the floor in a limp heap. Chester straightened, rubbing his hand over the knuckles of his fist and shaking his head almost sadly.

"Then it was the ghost that passed on the weakness. Timmy, pal, you're too light. A strong enough hit in the right place... and you're at the mercy of the guy who hits you." he murmured and looked up at the sudden bursts of pink and green smoke as Cosmo and Wanda appeared in the room.

"The Timmy Sense went off! What hap-?" Wanda began and shrieked once she spotted her godchild curled on the tile in peaceful silence.

"Is it Timmy's quiet time again?" Cosmo asked in confusion, flying down to poke at the boy's arm, "He already had one. Wanda didn't like it."

"Don't panic!" Tootie exclaimed, "Timmy and Chester were having a, uh, mock combat session and it kinda went out of hand!" She managed a sheepish smile as Andromeda and Apollo entered the scene in their own bursts of colored magic smoke. "He's just kinda knocked out for a bit, but he should be fine!"

"Eeks!" Romi squealed, "A body!"

"Whoa! Who beat the crap out of Timmy Turner?" Apollo exclaimed in a startled tone, "He's totally demolished!" Wanda wailed louder.

"Nice going, Apollo." Trixie growled, pulling her fairy down by one leg, "He's just fine, Wanda! Really! It was all a big misunderstanding, that's all." She sighed and shook her head. Kind of disappointing; without magic, Timmy really was just average. Still, it was on his word that he wouldn't use magic that he held back, so that earned him points in the whole honorable department. Her parents would love that.

Tootie knelt by the brunet, carefully brushing hair back from his face as she took in the sight of him. Reckless, stubborn, constantly rushing into things without really thinking them over... but then those were some of the qualities of a Hero and Timmy had always had them, even before his death. Hell, those qualities were the reason for it! She smiled faintly as she watched him breathing softly against her hand. For who he was, for who he is, for the potential of what he could become, they were qualities she admired in him, qualities she loved. Even in this failure, he was still a Hero in her eyes because he had been true to himself and others even as he went down.

"Stupid jerk." she murmured affectionately, pulling back as Chester bent to pick up the brunet.

"Okay, let's go and check on the Others. Maybe they've found something to cheer us all up." the blonde remarked dryly, "Ah, and 'fore I forget, when Sleeping Beauty here wakes up, he's gotta take Tootie out on a date."

"What?" Trixie exclaimed in shock and folded her arms over her chest in a huff, "Not fair!"

"Sounds fair to me!" Tootie pointed out with a laugh, "That was the deal they made! You don't like it, how about you have a fight with Chester and see if you can change his mind?" The group headed out together, the fairy couple still prodding at Timmy to wake him up, the other two fairies vanishing into their usual guises.

* * *

Master Control Spire~

It was annoying, to understate it. Remy had badgered him on and on about needing to better protect the control units. Crocker had finally thrown up his hands and agreed to equip the machines with improved software to allow them the ability to defend against whatever attempted to take them out. The Spires were put to work modifying the existing control units.

With that out of the way, Crocker returned to his work on the new invention he was crafting, inspired by the small detector he had in his possession. He didn't have the special crystals that powered the detector, but surely enough electricity being pumped into his magnificent machine would be plenty to run it long enough to drain the magic from both the new Timmy and the mystery fairy from his faded memories. It would be helpful, though, if he had more of the strange metal that made up the detector's main components. Those had to be the secret to its ability to channel energy without blowing up. After all, what was magic but a form of energy only magical creatures like fairies and genies could touch? Getting enough of it to build the bulk of his invention was crucial; without it, he ran the risk of killing both the fairy and the new Timmy. Well, the fairy at least, he wasn't entirely certain about the boy.

He made the call to Remy about it, careful to look impassive about the whole thing.

"You want what again?" the blonde asked incredulously, "I'm spending my days, dreading the coming of this Friday, and you call up out of the blue and demand a supply of some dinky little metal you found in that detector contraption?"

"It's for my latest invention." Crocker returned dryly, "You wanted a way to permanently get rid of the magic-user, Neogene, correct? Well, I need more of this special metal in order to do that."

"Well, what's it called? What kind of metal is it?"

"I have no idea. It has no record of existence according to online databases, so I'm assuming it's some kind of magical metal. The identification stamp on the circuitry traces it to a Hounder Organization." the retired teacher went on, "What are the odds you can contact them and get a shipment of the stuff sent to me?"

"About as good as Timmy Turner rising from his grave and groveling at my feet." Remy returned scathingly, "That bloody organization is Neogene's backer! How do you propose I confiscate this special metal from them when they're the ones supporting the brats who are tearing down my Spires?"

"Think of something. Or accept the fact that nothing can kill Timothy and just watch him destroy the last of the Spires." Crocker growled and cut the connection, sitting back with a smug grin. It was nice to turn the tables once in a while.

.

Remy scowled at the blank screen, then spun in his chair to study the figures floating before him in the shadows. Juandissimo popped out of his peacock disguise and hovered by him, a faintly anxious expression on his face.

"Well, gentlemen and gentlewomen, now what?" Remy growled in irritation, "You want my Spires up as badly as I do, but this Neogene brat keeps pulling them down and destroying the foundations for the replacements. Now I have to get my hands on some 'magic' metal for Crock-Pot to build the device to get rid of him." He motioned to his fairy godfather. "I can't just wish for it to be brought to me; the Hounder Organization has some strange way of detecting fairy magic and will probably trace it back to me."

"So you are implying that we should go and retrieve this metal for you?" one of the figures questioned flatly, "This was not a part of the deal." Remy leaned forward in his seat, eyes narrowed at the group.

"I don't care if it is or it isn't. Fetch me that metal." he told them in a low, dangerous tone.

"If that is what it will take to continue our venture, so be it. We will be looking forward to our compensation for this later. Of that you can be most assured." a feminine voice added in just as dryly. The group turned collectively and vanished through the open balcony window. Juandissimo finally exhaled and wiped a film of sweat from his forehead.

"_Dios mio_, I'm glad they're gone." he sighed and looked at his godchild worriedly, "Remy, my less-sexy-than-me friend, we really shouldn't be doing this with those persons. Can't we just back out of the contract? This could be considered treason!"

"No. We're not backing out, not after so much of the plan has already been executed." Remy returned curtly, "It took only six weeks to plan it all out, and four years to get this far. I will not let it be for nothing. Power, personal happiness and satisfaction; those are the prizes I was promised for lending my aid to those miserable creatures."

"And what are they to get of this? Remy, what have you promised them?" the Latino fairy pressed in alarm, "There is much you have kept hidden even from me, _amigo_; I have much concern for what you have involved us in!"

"It's nothing, absolutely nothing." the blonde returned softly, glaring at the shadows, "What they want is no longer here, and nothing can change it. It doesn't even warrant a second thought, it is that pitiful and pathetic." He stood and tossed his head arrogantly, "Come, Juandissimo! I have homework that needs to be done."

* * *

Ivory Tower~

A.J. was just about finished printing out the Dimmsdale sewer map when Timmy finally awoke, complaining of a heavy feeling on his chest. Chester grinned and shook his head, then laughingly pointed out that it was Cosmo sitting there and staring at his face the whole time he'd been lying on the sofa.

"Cosmo, off! Come on, even immortals need air!" the brunet complained and rubbed at the spot just below his ribs where he'd been nailed by the blonde's final strike, "Owww... I'm gonna be feeling this one for ages."

"Serves you right for being bull-headed again." Tootie teased, kicking her legs from where she sat on the table, "By the way, Chester says you have to take me out on a date!"

"Okay, whatever you did that knocked me out, Chester, do it again." Timmy pleaded of the blonde, then grinned to show it was all in jest, "Y'know, it's weird, but I feel a ton better after that fight. Why's that?"

"Stress. After the battle at the fourth Spire, we have all been put under a great deal of stress because of what we have learned and experienced." Sanjay explained wisely, "Some of us have coped with it the only way we knew how, but some do not know how to handle post-traumatic stress. Perhaps a level field and a frenzied battle between comrades was the only way you and Chester could relieve that stress?" The two boys looked at each other, glanced at the girls, then looked away with vague shrugs. Sanjay scowled and folded his arms over his chest in annoyance, "Perhaps I am wrong. You may not be suffering from stress, but too much sexual tension!"

"Dude, one Sex Ed. class doesn't make you an expert!" Chester griped at the Hindu as Timmy turned red and hid his face in his hands. Sanjay huffed indignantly as the rest of the group laughed.

"How would **you** know? You skipped the class and Timmy seems too sheltered to even know one exists!" he returned.

"Can we get back to the real matter at hand? Somebody acknowledge the fact that we've been working our butts off for the past five days and got a printout of the sewers, please?" A.J. asked in exasperation. Trixie clapped her hands and the boy's face fell. "You wound me. A pity applause?" he whimpered, then shrugged it off, "Oh well. At this point, I'll take anything. So. Hand me the map of the network layout and I'll overlay it onto the map of the sewers in the computer. We should be able to figure out if we can really use them to access the connection lines and cut them using a 3-D model to follow the paths underground." Tootie held the paper over her shoulder, still swinging her legs childishly. A.J. pulled it free and scanned it into his laptop, then typed in a few commands. "It's gonna take a while to compile and render the model, so let's use this time to work on something else."

"Like what?" Timmy asked.

"Like the fact that you shouldn't be fighting with your friends! Or fighting without magic at all!" Wanda scolded him, wagging her wand at him in admonishment, "Your body can't take that much physical damage! You know that! Caleb told you, **I** told you!" The brunet made a face and earned a sharp rap to the head with the wand. "How many times have we **all** told you? You're too light to take much in the way of punishment like that! You're just like your father...!" She stopped, blinked her wide pink eyes, then blushed and rubbed her head bashfully. "Oh, never mind, Sweetie! Just don't do it again, okay?" she amended quickly.

"Yeah, I admit my dad's always been kind of girlie, but he wrestled the Dimmsdale Sewer Gator barehanded. That counts for something, right?" Timmy sighed, "I might not be as strong as him, but that doesn't mean I have to be so light."

"I dunno. Genetics plays a pretty high role in how you come out." Elmer put in and looked back towards A.J., "What we meant by working on something else was trying to figure out who might have wanted to have Timmy murdered four years ago." The team fell silent at those words, a dread feeling settling over them.

"Way to kill a mood." Chester muttered.

"Way to keep doing it." Timmy added dryly.

"Hey, we have to find this out, guys." Tootie pointed out, swinging herself around to face the group, "Dimmsdale has to know the truth."

"We don't even know how someone could have made the jungle gym move without anyone noticing, how are we going to solve a murder case when the police couldn't?" Timmy asked in exasperation.

"The _police_ couldn't because they're idiots." Trixie sniffed, "We know the jungle gym moved and **that** caused your death. Do you remember anything else Francis might have said or did while you were at his house?" The brunet rubbed his head thoughtfully.

"He did say something a little weird before I ran out." he muttered, "He said that it was all in how we saw it... no..." He frowned slightly, then looked up at the group in confusion. "It's all in _where_ you look at it. And he was looking at the jungle gym when he said it." he amended.

"Where we look at it? What's wrong with where we're looking at it now?" Elmer questioned, puzzled by the new piece of information. A.J. looked up at the ceiling, focusing on the words.

"Where we look at it. It's all in where we look at the jungle gym." he mused aloud, "What does that mean?" He squinted his eyes, then rubbed his head. "Where we look at it..."

"There shouldn't be anything wrong with how we see the site of the murder. Your scenario simulator was built with data from the crime scene photos." Tootie told him and the boy nodded slowly, then lit up.

"Yeah, it was! And all those photos had been taken from the same vantage point! With the jungle gym in front of the school building!" he exclaimed and grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil, sketching furiously on the piece. "Here and here and here... All the photos were of the same view, outside the school. None of our officers thought to change views and take photos of the jungle gym from other places!" He turned and held up his sketch, showing it off to the other teens for viewing. "Take a look. This is an example of one of those photos. What do you see?"

"Bushes, the jungle gym, the school..." Timmy droned on in boredom.

"A window?" Trixie remarked hesitantly and blinked as the super-genius pointed at her with a grin.

"That's it! Look at the window in the school; it's got a perfect view of the jungle gym!" he exclaimed, "Anyone in that room would have a clear view of what happened that day!"

"Okay, so then we just find out who might have been in that classroom during recess four years ago..." Tootie remarked.

"That won't help us. There weren't any witnesses who came forward that said they were in that room the day Timmy fell." Chester sighed, "Somebody would have said something about that by now."

"Then what?" Timmy asked dryly, "You want to go break into the elementary school and stand in that room? Take a look out the window at empty space? The jungle gym was torn down, wasn't it? That's what Vicky said the first time she caught me hanging out there."

"Maybe we should." A.J. returned and jumped at the sound of a beep. Spinning in his chair, he tapped at the keys to his laptop and sat back. "Rendering's done. Take a look." he declared and the group of teens closed in to study the screen. Timmy reached out and delicately traced a thick blue pipe with a fingertip, then pulled it away and smiled.

"It's following the sewer tunnels." he whispered, "Network is definitely in the sewers."

Behind the group congratulating one another on the discovery, the four fairies continued their own soft-spoken discussion from before the interruption of the fairy couple's sudden abandonment of the group. Worried glances were passed among themselves, then cast at the ragtag team of teenagers.

"It might be safe for Timothy to go on this hazardous adventure on Friday the Thirteenth, but the same can't be said for Tootie, or any of the other boys." Romi murmured. Apollo nodded emphatically.

"She's right. The immunity Anti-Cosmo set up was specifically for Timmy, right? He didn't say anything about the guys and girls if they wore the Heart of Dimmsdale insignia. They could be vulnerable to attack that day when the anti-fairies bust out." he pointed out.

"Then we'll just have to keep watch over all of them, won't we, Cosmo?" Wanda whispered and frowned at the godfather's distant expression, "Cosmo, pay attention!"

"I just don't want to see Tootie get hurt. And even though I'm not the fairy godmother to the Others, I wouldn't want them to be hurt either." Romi went on worriedly, "What should we do to protect them?"

"Talk to Anti-Cosmo." the green-haired fairy suggested quietly and blinked when all eyes turned to him. He swallowed and tossed his head lightly towards Timmy, "Have Timmy talk to him about extending the immunity just for that one day. If he hears it from Timmy, Anti-Cosmo might be more likely to agree." He winced and held his head in one hand. "Ow. Maybe I should just stick to inventing new kinds of elevator music. Ideas make my head hurt!" he complained.

"Well, it's worth a shot." Wanda murmured and gave her husband a comforting kiss on the cheek, "Take it easy, Honey; remember what Doctor Rip Studwell said."

"No thinking? That's easy." Cosmo returned cheerfully and proceeded to blissfully sink into a vacant stare as his wife fluttered down to pass on the message. Apollo shook his head in pity, watching the older godfather vegetate.

"And this guy's the one that wiped out Xanadu. Sad." he sighed.


	17. Chapter 17

17

Most nights were quiet, peaceful, almost to the point of being maddening. This was the main reason why he ever sang now, to keep himself as close to sane as possible. But most nights were tranquil, and as long as he kept a low profile when he traveled, the nights stayed tranquil. He especially liked nights where he could emerge from the depths and take in the moonlight, working on small melodies and songs whenever possible.

Life was very different from the past; food was a little harder to come by, but when stores became abandoned for some reason, it got a little easier. Clothes and various other necessities became more available as more shops were left to rot without care. He didn't think of it as stealing, it made him shudder too much, so he tried to consider it all as unknown borrowing. He'd pay it back... someday.

The thought of truly ending his existence never crossed his mind. Sure most days he spent in his makeshift homes were done curled up in bed, weeping, but he'd pull himself out of it eventually and continue his rounds, singing to ward off depression as much as he could. He'd seen the papers the first few days he'd lived down there and it had startled him some, though Timmy's obituary really drove home that sense of hopeless sorrow. He hadn't thought of what he had done as anything _that_ bad, but since the people of Dimmsdale were already reeling over the loss of the boy, his own disappearance just seemed to make things worse.

He would have gone back and cleared the whole thing up, but those **things**... God, they were all over the place and guarding the manhole covers and swarming near the drainage pipes that left the city limits. There was no escape, save for when they wandered off to patrol the tunnels, and the time was brief for him to get out, get what he needed to survive, then duck back in to hide. Why didn't he just stay out when he got there? He wasn't sure, just had some strange compulsion to remain captive there among the enemy, within reach but always elusive.

There were occasional run-ins with them, and at first he was clueless as to how to deal with the **things**. He'd tried hitting them with pipes and whatever debris he could get his hands on, but that didn't work. There had been one time he had actually gotten into a physical scuffle with one and the mass that he had struggled with toppled them both into the water. He came out of it sputtering and soaked with various liquids he hoped wouldn't melt the skin off his body later, but he was alone. His aggressor had simply vanished. Then came a day where he had run across one by mistake in the tunnels. It had been about a year since Timmy's death, and his life down there had been somewhat rough, forcing him to adapt to a new lifestyle that heavily emphasized a need to learn to protect himself. So rather than run away in sheer terror as he had the first few times, he decided to stand his ground and find a way to knock the **thing** into the water.

He'd braced himself for impact as it came at him, then bared his teeth at the **thing** as a show of force, or just to bolster his own bravado, he couldn't tell at the time. And he never got around to figuring that part out, because what he had once referred to as 'Teeth Fu' had decided to kick in and the blast of light that had rushed from his own sparkling teeth just threw the **thing** into the current. It had startled him, not because he'd just fired what looked like a white-blue laser out of his mouth, but because it had been ages since it last did anything like that. True it had happened on television once, and he hadn't been surprised by that emission (though it **did** worry him a great deal inwardly that it might have him labeled as a freak, which thankfully didn't happen), and it had come on and off at random times as a kid, but to have it just come in out of the blue after so many months of just not existing? Had it just been another fluke? Would that strangeness vanish again as it always had before?

A few more encounters with the **things** proved different; he'd locate one, jump out in front of it with every intent to have the 'Teeth Fu' beam slam it into the sewer water, and his shining smile never failed. Well, less a smile than it was simply a matter of just pulling back his lips to bare as much of the pearly white as possible. So therein was the puzzle he'd spent all of three months stewing over as he prowled the tunnels below the Wall-to-Wall Mart. Why had the beam decided to occur more often now, when before it had been scarcer than a blue moon?

He eventually concluded that his desire to protect his life and fight for it, rather than flee and leave his fate to chance, was the trigger for the beam. After all, it had erupted when he chose that first day to stand his ground and give the **thing** a piece of his mind. He'd been sick of being chased around by the mad dentist's puppets and wanted some form of payback, some way of declaring that he wasn't going to just get pushed over and have his teeth be stolen for no reason other than the fact that he fucking brushed them regularly.

It was just stupid and he'd had enough of it.

And the beam had picked up on that passionate thought and answered the silent cry of defiance, adding a powerful new ability to his meager arsenal of self-defense tactics. Getting around sub-Dimmsdale got much easier after that.

So the nights were nice, most of his days spent clearing paths and carefully setting up new defenses or traps around his homes to keep those **things** away from him, and it was during those nights that he walked around the tunnels and sang. Mostly he sang old hits he had recorded, songs that he heard on the radios of workers who went down into his territories to do maintenance work, but he spent a bulk of the time composing a new song. One that, if he could ever regain the courage to leave his self-imposed prison and exile, he would sing to the city and hope that it would give the people back some of their lost hopes and dreams, the will to move on and continue dreaming in honor of their lost Heart, rather than doom themselves to eternal grief.

He was certain that Timmy didn't want that for any of them.

And even though it was going to be another of those good nights for walking and singing, he chose not to leave his home right away. Something in the pit of his stomach was dreading going beyond the safety of his defenses; this night was different somehow. It was Friday the Thirteenth, but he'd gone out on other Friday the Thirteenths before and nothing ever happened, so why was this particular night different? Why did this night send shivers up his spine, as some primal sense deep within told him to prepare for a fight the likes of which he'd never experienced?

Why did it feel like this night, above all others, would change his life and his views on life forever?

* * *

"Ugh, gross..." Chester griped, holding his nose shut as he walked through the tunnels, "This place stinks! It smells like it's full of..."

"Chester, it's a sewer. What do you think goes down here when people flush?" Timmy griped back flatly as he led the team down the path, eyes mainly on the holographic map projected from the armband he wore.

"We were warned about what would be down here in the way of gases and other questionable things." A.J. remarked as he stepped along backwards, sweeping the end of his laser blaster back and forth, "We're just lucky that there's not enough build-up to either kill us all on the spot or blow this city sky high if a spark went off."

_"That's about all the luck we've got tonight."_ Tootie's voice added over the communications line of the Fenton Phones, _"The anti-fairies are already reported to be on the loose above ground, and what little luck we do have on our side is keeping Vicky and Trixie from getting found and messed with."_

_"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me by that kid's name?"_ the older woman growled. Up above the sewer system, cruising along the streets of Dimmsdale, Victoria kept her eyes open for signs of anything that didn't look like it belonged in the area while the raven-haired Popular beside her monitored a laptop that tracked the signals of the green Phones. "Are you sure I can't just floor this piece of junk and smack a few of those things on the windshield?"

_"No. For one thing, killing an anti-fairy would end up killing its fairy opposite as well. And for another thing, I don't want Anti-Cosmo ticked off at me just 'cause you wanted to decorate your grill with antis tonight."_ the brunet down under warned and swept the Light orb around the bend of the tunnel, "A.J., we've got a right-hand turn in a few steps. So far, things are clear." He touched fingers to the Fenton Phones again, "Cosmo, how are things up ahead?"

_"It smells, it's dark, I can't see five inches in front of my face, and I'm pretty sure that what floated by over there wasn't a chocolate bar."_

For the mission of cutting the target Spire's network connection, a plan had been devised en route to a manhole cover nearest the target Spire without being exposed too much. The team would be split into three groups; two to enter the sewers and cut the lines, one to stay above ground and monitor the situation and report on how well things were faring where the anti-fairies were involved, along with trying to flag down Anti-Cosmo for that quick chat Wanda had told them to try for the day. Victoria's involvement had been Timmy's decision, as he wanted her to see how they worked together as a team and needed to get some amount of field training before becoming a full-fledged attacker in the group.

Trixie would remain in the babysitting van with Victoria for safety, and also because she still refused to enter the tunnels, even with Timmy pointing out that it would bring them all closer together as a team if she swallowed her pride and went along. She knew she lost additional points there, but it was dignity that held her back, not pride. At least, she insisted on that excuse.

So the team was broken down into the most effective groups Sanjay could put together. Timmy, Chester and A.J. would form one team, with Wanda and Cosmo covering for him. Being a magic-user with many offensive spells, Timmy would take the lead, clearing the paths of anything that could block their travel and fighting off whatever minions might come. Wanda would stay with him to act as backup, providing extra firepower where needed. Cosmo was relegated to scouting ahead, looking around and reporting back if there was any need to be aware of potential threats coming their way that he alone couldn't deal with. Chester would travel behind the brunet, carrying various pieces of equipment for cutting the pipelines due to his greater physical strength. A.J. was the better sniper of the two of them, and was put to act as a rear guard, making sure the team was defended from the back as they traveled.

Tootie's group was set up similarly, with Elmer acting as pack mule, Sanjay taking up rear guard, Tootie and Romi leading the group with map and offensive magic and Apollo scouting ahead. It had taken some amount of convincing on Timmy's part to get Trixie to let them borrow the fairy swordsman for the scouting mission. As for the equipment to slice through the network connections...

It had been borrowed from Caleb, but not before the brunet had to sit through three hours of rage from the android. From having little progress in regaining Danny's true nature to the sudden unexplainable theft of an entire shipment of aionis right from the vaults of the New York branch of the Archives of the Twin Blades to having to replace the destroyed Thunder Scepter (one more staff in a long line of staffs that Timmy had managed to completely ruin with little effort), Caleb's venting would have thoroughly scared him back to Death had he not known that the angel would end up storming into the nearest kitchen and finish the rant by throwing together yet another feast of meals.

Which probably explained why the museum had so many kitchens built into it and the homeless of New York City always lined up there when they heard angry screaming.

Either way, Caleb finished his fuming, handed off the equipment, cutters and new staff and all, then quietly demanded to be left alone until Danny recovered, or Judgment Day came again, whichever was soonest. Timmy had asked if he could check in on the halfa, but backed away quickly when the response came in the form of a soft offering to have his brain pulled out of his head through his nose. So no visits were permitted; why couldn't the android have just said so?

"How much longer before we get there?" Chester complained, "This stuff's heavy! Why'd you make me carry all this junk?"

"Because you're stronger than A.J. and way stronger than me. How many times do we have to go through this?" Timmy sighed.

"Hey, you carried more crud than this on your back when you were ten! Why can't you do it again now?" the blonde went on in frustration.

"Geez, I don't know, okay? Maybe my bones went soft when I passed through the Veil, who gives a flip?" the brunet shot back in irritation, "All I know is if I carry too much weight on me, I'll end up snapping something and I **don't** want to end up paralyzing myself again! I freaking hate it when I split my spine in half for no good reason!"

_"Could you be quiet back there? There's something up ahead."_ Cosmo muttered through the Phones. Wanda blinked and took on a faintly worried expression as her godchild lifted his arm and brought up the map again.

"We're coming to a fork in the tunnels. Left turn and we should be a few yards from the pipeline we marked off for cutting on our end." he murmured, "Tootie and her group will arrive at theirs in another fifteen minutes. Cosmo, go ahead and see what it is that's taking the same course. Maybe it's just a maintenance guy fixing a water pipe or something."

The fairy didn't give much response beyond a soft grunt of affirmation, but then that was how he usually responded in similar situations. Much as he disliked being in the army, the training still stuck to Cosmo in some form or another and it served him well in many situations. He just refused to admit to it. Timmy sighed and shook his head, then warned the rear guard of another turn as he continued leading the group along.

* * *

He couldn't hold back any longer. His supplies were severely low and if he didn't make a move now to replenish them, there was no telling when his next opportunity would arise. So he gathered up his courage and headed out, following the tunnels as they snaked under the commercial district. It usually took him an hour or so to get to the Wall-to-Wall Mart from this particular nesting of his, so that should be enough time for him to make another sweep of the area and assure himself that nothing was wrong.

The walk was fairly uneventful, which immediately put him on edge. The **things** weren't around, and that wasn't normal. They were always around, looking for him, stinking up the place with scents that he had once found pleasant. That's why he had to change brands; bad enough it was all over the place out here, he didn't need a freaking heart attack while doing his morning routine just 'cause he popped the cap off the tube while half asleep.

He paused at one intersection and carefully ran the tip of one finger across his teeth. Clean, squeaky clean. Good. The beam only really worked as long as he kept his teeth in good condition. Figured as much, but he wasn't going to let a good habit slip just to test if that was true or not. Still, not having those beasts around in their endless search was unnerving. What was going on? Did it have anything to do with that strange feeling he'd had earlier?

Perhaps it did. Against his usual routine, he turned down a side tunnel, moving off the path towards the huge mall and making his way to a scattering of walkways and tunnels that made up the rest of the system under the commercial district. Something was going on here, and it wasn't involving him this time. That meant only one thing; something or someone more important than him was in the sewer, and those **things** were moving into place to deal with it. For the sake of keeping his fate from passing on to anyone else, he'd just have to go and show those bullies the prize they truly wanted.

* * *

Empty.

Cosmo scanned the area once more, straining his hearing as much as he could, but there was nothing but the dripping of water, the sound of the current rushing by and the skittering of rats scrambling for cover. Whatever he had seen was no longer here, or had never been here at all. Had he imagined the shadow at the end of the tunnel?

_"Perhaps your mind is finally collapsing in on itself."_ that voice inside him remarked dryly.

"Shut up." the green-haired fairy growled under his breath and shook his head as the Fenton Phones picked up the mutter.

_"Huh? I didn't say anything."_ Timmy's voice answered in a puzzled tone, _"Did you find whatever it was you saw?"_

"Nope!" Cosmo chirped back brightly, shoving the dark voice back in mental irritation.

_"All right. Then come on back. We're at the target pipeline and we're getting ready to cut into it. Once we get word from Tootie, both teams are going to disconnect the network. We have to be ready to keep Chester safe in case something does show up."_ the brunet added, then ended the communication. Cosmo nodded slowly, gave the area one last look over, and made his way back down the tunnel. Dead end. Nothing had been there. That didn't sit well with him.

_"If you're that serious about examining the area, why not let me do it for you? Lord knows you'd overlook the most obvious things."_

"No. I did a good job. You stay put." Cosmo argued back. Bad enough the damn thing had the ability to freeze his body just to pass on ideas, he didn't want the voice to completely take over.

_"I can hear your thoughts, you know."_

"And I told you to shut up!"

_"Arguing with yourself is never a good sign."_

"You are **not** me!" Cosmo yelled angrily, "You never **were** me! I don't know how you got in my head but that's as far as you will ever get!"

_"I would have been you if you had stayed in the Academy."_

"Which is why I got myself discharged." the fairy grumbled as he flew on, then halted as the strong smell of mint swept across his nose, "Mint?" He sniffed again, then grinned. "Minty, not mediciney." he laughed. Ah, the good old days...

_"Why would the smell of mint be so strong down here? Pay attention!"_ His wings suddenly stopped moving and Cosmo dropped unceremoniously out of the air, landing with a thud on the damp floor.

"Ow." he muttered and sat up, looking down at himself in disgust. Wet stains; he didn't want to know what it was that now covered his shirt and slacks. "What the heck was that for?" he hissed.

_"Look around down here. You were too busy looking for threats at Timothy's height that you missed this."_ the voice ordered and Cosmo blinked at a series of pale blue goo drops forming a staggered trail on the concrete. He reached out, scraped some of the goo onto his finger, then sniffed at it. The mint smell was definitely coming from it, and it felt familiar, tingly.

"Toothpaste?" he murmured in confusion and stood up, walking around the splatter of paste. He traced the outer edge with the tip of his wand, watching the line glow a soft gold as he completed the circuit. Taking flight again, he looked down at the shape and scowled.

_"I don't like this. It reacted to our wand, evidence that it was from something that had been created using fairy magic. The path it's taking originates from that side tunnel, and it's going in the direction that Timothy's team went." _the dark voice growled.

"It's **my** wand, not yours, not ours. Mine." Cosmo corrected in a soft grumble, "But for once I agree. I don't like it either."

_"Then don't just float there! Go and reunite with the boy! We've lost him twice before, don't give them a third opportunity to take him from us!"_ the voice hissed and again Cosmo agreed, shooting off to find the brunet and his friends before whatever it was got to them first. The golden outline faded as he left, leaving only the toothpaste set in the shape of a massive footprint to continue bubbling on the dank sewer floor.

* * *

Tootie wrinkled her nose as her team finally came across the unmarked pipeline that ran along the walls of the sewer tunnel. It stunk, more than that, it reeked, down there. Elmer set his packs down and began opening them, pulling out the cutting tool and preparing it for use. She watched him attach the blade gingerly, the boy afraid of cutting his fingers in the process.

"Why not let Sanjay do it?" she asked and Elmer looked up at her in surprise.

"Hey, that's a good idea!" he remarked and called over to the Hindu teen. Tootie rolled her eyes and shook her head affectionately. Those two could be somewhat exasperating but they were good friends. She touched her fingers to the Fenton Phones, opening a transmission.

"Apollo? How are things up ahead?" she called out.

_"Pretty clear. This whole place smells weird though. I thought the sewers would stink, but this part here smells like cinnamon."_ the fairy swordsman reported in confusion. Tootie mirrored the baffled expression.

"Cinnamon?" she echoed.

_"Yeah, it's really strong here. It's kinda giving me a headache and I can't see that well."_ Apollo returned in a faintly pained tone, _"It's burning. I'm heading back to you guys; I can't keep scouting in this air."_

"All right. Come on back. Let's keep you in one piece so your godkid doesn't get all up in my face." Tootie sighed and tapped at the Phones again, "Timmy? How are you guys doing? Sanjay's putting together the cutter on our end; what's your time?"

_"A.J. and Chester are almost done preparing the cutter. We should have this thing cut in a few minutes."_ the brunet returned, _"It's actually kinda calm and nice. I thought something would attack us or something, but the worst I had to deal with was moving some grating out of the way. Sewers won't mind a little extra water in the system."_ Tootie frowned and set her fists akimbo, thinking that over.

"That's weird. No attacks? But didn't Bender and Wendell have minions down here? They're supposed to have underlings down here, protecting these pipes and looking for Chip Skylark, and..." she began.

_"Oh crud! I almost forgot! I'm supposed to go looking for him, too! Wanda, you stay here and keep an eye on Chester and A.J. When Cosmo shows up, have him stay put and help you."_ Timmy blurted out, _"Thanks for the reminder, Tootie! Later, guys! I'll be right back!"_

"What? Wait! Timmy!" Tootie called out in alarm and held her fists stiffly at her sides, "Oh, you idiot! Don't you know how dangerous that is?" She flipped her hair back and sighed harshly, "Romi! I wish I was wherever Timmy is at! But I want you to stay here and keep an eye on Elmer and Sanjay, too!" The earring poofed free and Andromeda fluttered before her, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, Tootie, but you're wearing the Heart of Dimmsdale insignia. I can't grant a wish that affects you." she apologized and the Goth smacked her hand against her forehead.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot! I'm wearing the armor!" she growled and began running, "Never mind then! I wish you would stay here and watch over the guys for me! I'll track down Timmy myself!" The fairy didn't look too pleased with the wish as she floated by the two teens bent over the cutting tool.

"Couldn't she just have waited for the date to try proving herself to him?" she sighed with a shake of her head.

* * *

Trixie drummed her fingers against the dashboard as she watched the swarm of anti-fairies rushing back and forth, causing as much bad luck as possible to whomever passed them by on the streets. Citizens carried good luck charms on them, covered their heads with newspaper hats, did everything in their power to avoid bad luck. Victoria sat by her in the driver's seat, snickering as, one by one, the people of Dimmsdale began to be overpowered by numerous anti-fairies doing all they could to knock away the charms and push them into triggering bad luck. Trixie sighed in boredom; so the carrot-top by her was having fun with this, so what? According to the laptop, Timmy was running around down in the sewer in random directions. Whatever he was doing didn't make any sense.

The anti-fairies seemed almost frantic.

She blinked as she noticed that one anti-fairy getting one senior citizen to drop his dentures didn't look as if she was enjoying the act of inflicting misery. Trixie rubbed at her eyes, then peered out at the female anti-fairy. She looked familiar; where had she seen that swirling hairstyle and simple clothing before? The anti held out her wand to the old man as he shook his cane in anger at her, standing by the broken remnants of his dentures. The black star shone, a dark aura appearing around the senior that was absorbed by the wand. Once the aura was gone, the anti-fairy flapped her bat wings and rushed off, the frantic, worried expression never changing on her face.

"I don't get it." Trixie murmured and touched fingers to her Fenton Phones, "Apollo, do anti-fairies like making people miserable?"

_"Huh? Yeah. It's their favorite thing in the world. It's Friday the Thirteenth today, so they must be having a blast. It's a freaking national holiday for them."_ the swordsman replied absently, _"They practically have a collective orgasm when they get loose out here. Why?"_

"They don't look happy. I saw one just outside gather up something from an old man and rush off like she was on some life-or-death mission." Trixie remarked, scratching her head in confusion.

_"Gather something? Like, a black something?"_

"Yeah, what is that?"

_"The negative energies of a human. The dark emotions in people give off a negative energy that anti-fairies live on. It's the opposite of what us fairies use to survive, the positive energies of the happy emotions."_ Apollo returned in a strangely serious tone, _"If the anti-fairies are just going around gathering up negative energy like that, someone in their group is seriously hurt. It's like what you humans do when you have blood transfusions, but we use energy instead of blood."_

Trixie watched several more anti-fairies mob a small crowd of women, the dark auras flaring up from the group wildly before vanishing into the black wands. The antis flew off again, some frantic, some openly crying in panic, some looking determined to move faster, collect more energy.

"What's going on down there?" she asked, keeping an eye on the swarms sweeping back and forth, "Have any of these antis shown up down there with you?"

_"Nope. Everything's okay here, save for the weird smell of cinnamon I came across earlier. Tootie took off to find Timmy, according to Romi."_ her fairy godfather replied, _"You haven't had any bad luck yourself, have ya? You or Icky Vicky up there with you?"_

"No, we're fine. Victoria is laughing her head off at some of what the anti-fairies are doing." Trixie sighed and looked worried, "So why is Timmy running around all crazy-like?"

_"Dunno. Sit tight; we'll be done soon."_ Apollo assured her and clicked off. The raven-haired Popular sighed again, watching the anti-fairies rush from person to person like mad bees on a nectar-gathering mission. Whoever it was that was hurt must be super-important; every anti-fairy out there was focused on gathering energy more than enjoying the fact that they were free, this was their holiday, the only chance they had to bring bad luck and misery to the world. Trixie mentioned it to her companion and Victoria gave a short laugh.

"Really? Wouldn't it be a kick in the ass if they had the bad luck to have it be the guy who's in charge of them all?" she returned with a cruel grin, "That's irony at its best." Trixie blinked and gazed out the windshield.

"Their leader? That would be Anti-Cosmo, right?" she murmured, "Didn't Timmy say that Anti-Cosmo left last week to figure something out? He should have shown up by now, right? It's his job to keep the anti-fairies in order while they're causing all this bad luck, isn't it?" Was it possible that not even the leader of the anti-fairies was immune to bad luck?


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Oops! Forgot this one was missing the last chapter! Sorry!

* * *

18

Chester sat back with a sigh of relief. Finally. The cutter completed, he lifted it up and set the blade near the pipe, ready to switch it on and get the cutting underway. He looked back at A.J.

"This one, right? I don't wanna end up cutting power to half a city block just because our pal Undead Fred marked off the wrong network." the blonde told him.

"Yeah, that's the one." A.J. returned dryly and looked over at Cosmo and Wanda, one looking worried, the other in a black mood, simmering with barely masked fury while floating in the air. "Are you guys sure that Timmy's gonna be okay on his own? Wanda, you're usually the one to bug him until he lets you go along." The pink-haired fairy smiled weakly.

"He wished me to stay, so I have to stay." she replied, "I was going to go after him, but he called over the Phones and made the wish before I could take off."

"He didn't make the wish with me, so I'm going!" Cosmo declared and began flying off. He halted after a moment, then flew back, puzzled. "Which way did he go?" he asked his wife, lost. Wanda sighed and pointed at another direction. "Oh, so he's that way." he remarked and sighed, "It's dark over there."

The blade spun noisily as Chester began slicing into the pipe, squinting as sparks jumped off of it in a spray. If things were going well, Elmer would be cutting into the pipe on his end right then as well. Cosmo's earlier report was strange; toothpaste footsteps making its way towards them, smelling of mint. It was almost laughable. A toothpaste creature in the sewer, yeah, right. They didn't even have trouble with the Dimmsdale Sewer Gator; it never showed up, so what was something made of toothpaste gonna do to them?

He lifted the cutter once the line was cut and rubbed at his eyes under the protective lenses of the safety glasses. First cut done. One more and a nice twelve-inch section of the network connection would drop out and fall on the floor. Mission done, wham, bam, thank ye, Ma'am. Chester adjusted the glasses and moved the cutter over to start the next job.

"Even if you didn't get the wish, he said for both of us to stay here." Wanda argued with her husband.

"But I can't stay! I gotta go!" Cosmo whined loudly, "The thing made of toothpaste was made by a wish!" A.J. blinked at that and exchanged glances with Wanda.

"A wish? You mean we have toothpaste creatures running around down here that came from wishes?" the boy asked in concern, "What does that mean?"

"That might be what Bender and Wendell got from Remy in exchange for protecting the network connections down here! Remy would wish for toothpaste creatures and those two would use them down here!" Wanda exclaimed in realization, "We could all be in trouble!"

And trouble did come. As soon as the section of pipe Chester cut into dropped down to the floor, it rolled aside and was swallowed up by a large dollop of blue paste that just plopped down from a large figure in the shadows. The blonde lifted his glasses, staring over at the shadow in surprise.

"What the hell is that?" he asked shakily, turning the cutting tool to point at it. The rest of the group looked with him and blinked.

"It looks like... toothpaste?" A.J. remarked in a puzzled tone, looking down at the clump of paste on the floor. He lifted his gaze up at a pair of shining little eyes high above them. A huge smile, almost glowing white, suddenly broke through the shadow, giant teeth aligned in perfect rows gleaming at the two boys and fairy couple.

_"Toothpaste Monsta!"_ a strangely comical voice bellowed throatily and the group shrieked in collective terror, racing away from the creature in a frantic dash for escape.

* * *

"Chip! Chip Skylark!" Timmy called out as he walked along the sewer tunnels, "Hey, it's okay! I'm a friend! I was sent here as part of Timmy Turner's last wish!" He sighed and shook his head. "I am never going to get used to having to refer to myself while pretending I'm somebody else. Especially when my real self is dead to the world." he muttered and tossed out a Light orb to continue lighting his path.

The mission should be fairly easy. Another few minutes and the two teams would be done, they would get out of the sewers, grab a bite to eat and see if Anti-Cosmo showed up with the other anti-fairies. He grinned suddenly; funny, he was actually looking forward to seeing him again. It used to be a sense of dread that came over him whenever a Friday the Thirteenth arrived, knowing that Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda would be out there, scheming to plunge the world into eternal misery. He guessed that it was all that time spent having to live with the guy, actually getting the facts about how anti-fairies lived, understanding them better, that let him get the idea that they weren't bad because they **chose** to be (to some extent, because they liked being evil and all) but because they had to be. It was that whole balance.

"Does that mean I really **do** have darkness, if I can understand him?" Timmy worried suddenly and stopped to look into the sewer water at himself, clad in his usual stealth outfit, "I don't even dress like my old self half the time. Can a Hero be a Hero even with darkness in them?" He tilted his head, then shook it emphatically. "No. I'm a Hero and Heroes are always symbols of light and good. I don't have darkness, I don't have anything that could be bad in me. It all went away when I died." he told himself and continued walking, calling out Chip's name.

Another minute and he stopped again, hand lifting to cover his nose and mouth in disgust.

"Ugh! What is that? Smells like somebody took a lemon pop and threw up a gutful of cinnamon candy all over it!" he exclaimed and stepped back from the scented area. Something made a semi-wet sound under his feet and he looked down in a mix of alarm and additional disgust. Great, what did he step in? All over his high-tops, that smell was gonna stick to him for ages. He lifted a foot and shook it off, mentally wishing he had his half-ghost cousin's ability to turn intangible and just drop whatever he didn't want clinging to him.

Toothpaste.

Timmy blinked at the clump of half-yellow, half-red toothpaste that flopped off the sole of his shoe and splattered onto the concrete. Okay, so what the heck was that? Toothpaste? Down here?

"Chip." the brunet murmured in realization, "Of course! Chip Skylark won't go anywhere without a good supply of toothpaste to take care of his teeth!" He brightened. "I must be close by then!" he cried happily, "Chip! Hey! Can you hear me?"

Racing through the tunnel filled with that strangely horrific smell, Timmy made his way closer to what he hoped was the long-lost singer. There was something moving up ahead, a shadow of some tall figure that lumbered along down another tunnel. Eager to reach the figure, he pressed on faster, sending the Light orb ahead to illuminate the path. Once beyond the effect of the lemon-cinnamon mix, another scent tainted the air and Timmy skid to a halt, baffled.

"That smell. That's..." he murmured in sudden confusion, then fell into an instinctive crouch, both hands held out and holding several spheres of the _Bulla Scintillare_ spell. Now he knew; there **was** a difference between mana and magic, each had a different scent. The scent that had been missing when the first Dark Spire fell was a mix of mana and magic together. The two of them mingled into a pleasant aroma, but this was a stronger scent. Magic alone had a fairly overpowering scent to it.

Whatever was around here was full of magic, and not enough mana to be truly alive.

"Not good. Remy has to be involved somehow." the brunet muttered as he moved forward carefully. A few more steps and... "Haaah!" Timmy yelled, jumping out from around the corner to see what it was that seemed to just trudge along.

A giant made entirely of red gel squinted at him, a massive grin filled with perfectly aligned teeth shining at him. Timmy froze in shock, staring up at it in disbelief.

_"Toothpaste Monsta!"_ it barked out and guffawed loudly. The brunet found his voice, crying out in alarm as he leaped back, throwing both hands forward to unleash the combined spells on the monstrosity. The explosion of fire and toothpaste hurled him further back, landing him squarely in the water. He came up sputtering and paddled towards the edge of the floor, pulling himself up enough to cough and look around for additional creatures.

Sure enough, there were two more of the things slogging their way towards him, grinning maniacally as their shapeless arms swung back and forth at their sides, balancing them as they left behind footsteps of toothpaste in the wake of their staggered steps. Timmy sighed partially in exasperation. It couldn't be easy for him, could it? If the day wasn't complete for him without making Remy angry, then it wasn't complete for Remy until he found some way of screwing him over without even knowing it. He lifted a hand for another blast of _Bulla Scintillare_, then paused, watching in horror as the red gel of the first monster he blew apart oozed together and reformed into the creature. It was smaller than before, most of the gel had burned away or landed in the water and washed away, but it was there, grinning.

"What the-? That spell didn't work?" Timmy exclaimed and tried another spell, _"Lustrare Spiralis!"_ The spiral of light and electricity sliced through the monsters, scattering the paste all over the walls and floor. Keeping an eye on the goo, he pulled himself completely out of the water, hoping that the spell took care of them for good and that he didn't smell as bad as he imagined from being in the sewer water.

Nope. The goo was moving towards each other again, merging and growing, reforming into the huge monsters once more. The brunet groaned and held out his hands for another spell. What was it gonna take to get rid of those things?

_"Toothpaste Monsta!"_ one of them bellowed upon reforming and took a step forward.

"I knew I'd find one of you weirdos around here!" a second male voice declared and Timmy watched in awe as a laser beam of blue-white light shot in from nowhere and slammed into the trio of creatures. The three monsters splashed into the sewer water, flailing and wailing as they dissolved before his eyes. Standing there, staring at the melting creatures in shock, Timmy jumped at the touch of a hand coming down on his shoulder. He spun around, holding up an arm defensively. "Hey, whoa! Peace, little man; I'm not gonna hurt you." a young man told him gently, a kind smile on his face as he held up his hands. Timmy blinked, taking in the sight of what looked like a well-dressed homeless man. He wore a red jacket and jeans, a matching beanie hat pulled down on well-kept black hair. A satchel was slung over one shoulder. Another look at the man's face revealed friendly blue eyes and a neat little goatee on his chin that were both all too familiar.

"Chip? Chip Skylark?" the brunet whispered hollowly, staring up at the man in shock. The smile grew a bit.

"Oh? You've heard of me? I guess I'm not entirely dead to the music industry, huh?" the singer asked and laughed, "Wow! How much of a fan must you be to come all the way down here to find me?" Timmy returned the smile, laughing and crying all at once as he threw himself at the singer in a hug.

"Chip! You're okay! You're really alive!" he exclaimed joyfully. The singer looked down at him in confusion, returning the hug after a moment of hesitation.

"Uh, sure. Are you one of the crazed fans?" he asked, puzzled. The brunet stepped back, shaking his head with a grin.

"No, someone closer. Think about it. I'm the one who brought back your teeth when they were stolen that one time." Timmy returned. Chip blinked, thought it over, then shook his head.

"Nah. Can't be. Timmy Turner died four years ago." he remarked and the brunet smiled again.

"Do you believe in miracles?" he asked and the singer looked thoughtful before finally nodding, "Then believe in me. I really am Timmy Turner." He wasn't sure why he wanted to tell Chip right away who he was; maybe part of him deep down had finally given up on trying to hide himself from his friends. If they truly loved him, then when they knew the truth, they would side with him, join him in the fight to save the city. Maybe this was a way of testing the loyalties of his friends?

"Nah. Timmy wore pink, and that little hat that I always thought looked a little funny on him." Chip insisted and Timmy sighed. Maybe a little extra proof was needed?

"When I was ten, and alive, you were at my school play. You sang a song for me, told me to find my voice and everything." he told the man, "Well, I kinda found it after my death, but hey, better late than never, right? C'mon, Chip, it's really me!" He reached out, grabbed his hand and placed it on his head. "Okay, forget looking at me. Close your eyes and use your heart. Does **it** believe I'm Timmy Turner?" the young immortal asked.

"You're a very strange fan, but okay." Chip sighed and shut his eyes. And then a strangely familiar feeling crept over him, a sensation of hope, of instinctively knowing that if he could just hold on to that hope, that secret happy feeling, everything would be all right. The day would go on, life would go on; there would always be hope, there would always be a brighter day. Just hang on. The Heartbeat was there.

Chip opened his eyes, startled, and looked down in awe at the brunet looking back up at him.

"It really **is** you." he whispered, "Timmy! Little man! How?"

"It's a long story." Timmy returned in relief, "But it's good to have you back. There's a lot of stuff going on and..." A series of screams filled the air, echoing through the tunnels and making both the singer and immortal jump in fright. "What was that?" the brunet exclaimed in alarm and Chip gave him a sudden sharp glare.

"Did you bring other people down here?" he demanded and Timmy nodded quickly, "Then those monsters must have found them! Come on! We have to go and help them! If they get caught, they'll get taken to Bender and they can kiss their teeth goodbye!" He raced down the tunnel and Timmy shot after him, throwing out a Light orb to guide their way.

* * *

Tootie stepped back bit by bit, mind racing through the meager list of spells she had in her arsenal. She had combed through the disc that she had received from Timmy for more attack spells, wanting to do more than just heal the boy at the end of each fight. _Holy Lance, Photon, Fireball, Lightning,_ among a few of the level-one spells she bothered learning; none of them seemed to do much damage to the strange gooey monsters that had slithered into her path from random tunnels and pipes. Well, it would blow them apart, but then they would reform and continue chasing her.

"Man, what I wouldn't give for a giant toothbrush weapon right about now." she sighed, lashing out with the Laser Blade. It swept through the belly of one and sizzled away a section of the creature's body. The top half dropped back onto the lower and the creature walked on, shorter by a few inches but generally unscathed. "This is so not fair." Tootie growled, hurrying back around a bend and halting at the sight of two more of the creatures, colored pale blue and dark red. The air smelled heavily of cinnamon, mint and baking soda, making it difficult for her to breathe.

These things **had** to belong to Bender and Wendell; only they would be crazy enough to be happy with monsters made entirely of toothpaste. And these things had to be made of magic, fairy magic, wished into service by Remy for the dentist duo in exchange for their work in protecting the underground network and locating possible fairy targets. She lashed out again in a fury, sick of the idea that the rich boy had so much advantage over them. Once more, the section was torn away with no effect, but this time Tootie saw part of the creature drop into the running water and dissolve into a bubbling lather that washed away to nothing. She blinked at it, then brightened.

"Of course! They're made of _toothpaste_! Water just liquefies 'em!" the Goth declared and swept at the creatures again, using the sword to knock as much of the monsters into the current as possible. Good idea, but it was slow going. The creatures were advancing faster than she could get rid of them, and the air was too heavy and thick with the perfumes of the various toothpaste monsters. She stepped back, mind growing dizzy with the lack of fresh air. What a way to go. Tootie uttered a soft laugh. Wouldn't it be a kick, to be killed in a sewer by something that looked like it was heaved out of a mutant Colgate tube?

"There they are!" a voice called out and a brilliant beam of light cut through the darkness of the sewer, sending the toothpaste monsters sprawling into the water.

"The air here is too full of this smell to breath well." Tootie could hear Timmy's voice wheeze, "Chip, check on Tootie for me. I need to do something about the air." The Goth lifted her head, looking up in faint surprise as the singer rushed to her and waved a hand before her face.

"How many fingers do you see?" he asked her.

"The fact I'm still alive to see anything is good enough for me." she returned with a grin, "It's good to see you're still kicking. So, you met my friend already?" Chip grinned back at her, nodding.

"Yeah, things definitely picked up for me now that Timmy's back in the game!" he remarked brightly and turned to watch the brunet stand near them, a look of concentration on his face, "But he's been doing some pretty weird things for a while now, like making lights out of nothing and having them float around and stuff. Don't remember him doing stuff like that as a kid." Tootie blinked as the air suddenly began to grow fresher, more easy to breathe. Standing up she looked around herself, then at the brunet, a faint realization dawning on her.

"Timmy? What are you doing to the air?" she asked him.

"Quiet. This is taking a lot of work." Timmy returned distractedly, "You okay?" Tootie huffed and folded her arms over her chest in irritation.

"First you tell me to be quiet, then you ask a question to hear my answer. Make up your mind!" she grumbled and the brunet opened his eyes, glaring at her.

"I was asking because I was worried. Excuse me for caring." he muttered, "I was converting the air to get you something fresher, but go ahead and choke on the old stuff." He flicked a hand upward and the heavy perfumes of the toothpaste scents flooded the area again. Chip immediately lifted a hand to his nose.

"Blech! I thought I'd never see the day I'd hate the smell of toothpaste, but ever since those things chased me down here, I haven't been able to stand it!" he complained, "Come on, little dude! Whatever you were doing before to help us out, don't quit now!" Tootie shrugged and shook her head.

"Fine, be a jerk. But thanks for the little bit of air you left behind." she remarked and touched fingers to the Fenton Phones, "Elmer, Sanjay? Romi? How are you guys holding up?"

_"We've cut through the network pipe, but we picked up word from above that the anti-fairies are working double time. Also, Trixie reported that Timmy's team ran from their target point a bit ago."_ Elmer answered worriedly, _"We tried to get in contact with them, but no one's answering and they seem to be running in one big group."_ Tootie gave the two boys with her an alarmed look.

"Timmy, you idiot, you left Chester and A.J. alone out there?" she yelled, "They're all running scared! What if they got attacked by these same things?" The brunet looked startled, jumping back from her.

"But I left Cosmo and Wanda with them!" he exclaimed and touched fingers to the Phones himself, "Elmer, Sanjay! You guys get out of here and head back to the street level! I'll take care of my team!" He looked towards his two friends grimly, "Okay, I'm going to have find the guys before this mission goes really bad. Tootie, get Romi back with you and tell Apollo to cover Elmer and Sanjay on their way back to Vicky and Trixie."

"But what about...?" Tootie began and tilted her head at Chip. Timmy lifted his hands helplessly.

"We don't have time to worry, and we don't have much of a choice. I'll track Cosmo and Wanda through their wands. You go back up to the surface with Chip, using Romi to protect the two of you." he told them and ran from them without another word. Tootie scowled and stomped a foot down on the floor.

"Geez! He makes me so mad sometimes! Who does he think he is, running off like that? He acts like the whole freaking world is on his shoulders!" she griped and looked up at Chip, "I'm gonna go follow him! The magic we use doesn't work on these toothpaste things, but I know another way to stop them!"

"Magic?" the singer echoed in confusion, "That's the weirdness he's doing? All right. Might not be a good idea for you to go, though. I can't put a girl in danger." The Goth stomped her foot again.

"I can do the same kind of magic Timmy can, and I carry a sword and dagger! I'm not some weak little girl, okay?" she griped and took a deep breath. "Romi! I want to make a wish!" she yelled and a blast of dark blue smoke erupted before them. The fairy hovered before her, startled to see Chip Skylark.

"Tootie, I'm not sure this is a good idea. It's risky enough having the Others and your sister know about fairies." Romi told her in concern. Tootie shook her head.

"We'll be okay for now. I wish that Chip Skylark was up on the street with Vicky and Trixie." she remarked and the singer shook his head emphatically.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, no way! I can't go up there and leave you and Timmy here to get taken out by those things!" he exclaimed. He ran a finger along his teeth, showing them to her. "If the stuff you do is magic, then maybe it's the same as what I can do with my Teeth Fu." he told the girl, "As far as I can tell, the light that comes from my shiny teeth is the only thing that can do any real damage to those toothpaste monsters."

"Oh, okay." Tootie sighed, "Romi, negate the wish. We'll go after Timmy together, but you have to be careful. You're not protected like we are." She lifted her arm and looked down at the band, "Fairy wand locator, locate subjects Wanda Cosma and Cosmo Cosma." The map bloomed into the air and scaled itself down until a pair of golden crowns blinked in the sewer map. "Okay! Let's go!" she declared and raced off with Romi and Chip following after her.

* * *

Surrounded by the creatures made of dental hygiene products, Chester and A.J. fought back as well as they could with the cutting equipment and laser rifles. Wanda fired bursts of magic where she could, sending everything from large dice to pieces of chicken after the creatures. Most of the toothpaste monsters were covered with random objects. After having run from a group of the monsters for the past few minutes, the team had found themselves cut off at one intersection by another group. With no choice but to fight, they stood their ground. Just beyond them, taking a greater amount of distance to keep the two boys and Wanda out of danger, Cosmo relied on the attacks that Wanda had warned him not to use. He couldn't really help it; they were something innate to him, far too useful, and he would risk everything to keep his family and friends safe. Besides, what was one or two rolls or blasts here and there?

_"I don't see the point in doing this for them."_ the voice muttered in irritation as Cosmo spun in place, the green bladed wings on his back slicing through several toothpaste monsters at once.

"I care. That's all I need." the fairy returned under his breath.

_"That's both irrelevant and idiotic. If you continue with this, I'll be forced to shut off your access to this power."_

"You can't do that. Power's mine alone." Cosmo huffed out, falling out of the roll and looking around for more of the creatures, "I've got to protect Wanda... and the others... and Timmy most of all..."

_"I agree to the continued protection of Timothy, but **my** ultimate priority is to you alone. The others mean nothing."_

A cry sounded out as the remaining toothpaste monsters closed in on Chester, A.J. and Wanda. Startled, Cosmo looked towards them, then waved his arms in a panic. There were too many of the creatures and they were too close to the group for him to knock away with any of the magic attacks he kept hidden in his arsenal. He could try hitting them with some of the harder conjures, but there was the risk of screwing that up. There was always a risk of messing up when he was involved.

The monsters attacked, pelting the group with toothpaste as they brayed their laughter, giant teeth flashing light in the dim sewers. Chester knocked away globs of toothpaste with his hands, trying desperately to keep them from lambasting him and A.J. as the technical genius fired his rifle with little results. Wanda threw another set of randomly conjured items at one, then cried painfully as one large globule of paste slammed into her body, throwing her to the floor in a heap. Cosmo darted forward to her, cried in alarm as another shower of toothpaste filled the air, then found himself slamming the concrete as well, tangled in a mess of paste with both wings glued together.

_"You see? This wouldn't have happened if you had just listened to me."_ the voice told him dryly as a pale green field of magic bloomed into a dome over him. Cosmo blinked dazedly at the shield, puzzled by its appearance. _"Just stay put. It should be over soon."_

"Dude, I'm not liking the odds right now." Chester grumbled to A.J. as the monsters pressed in further, "Man, if Timmy was around, we'd at least have one more target for these things to work on!" A.J. rolled his eyes and looked past the monsters in surprise, pointing beyond them after a moment.

"You wished for it! Look! There he is now!" the technical genius exclaimed, "Hey! Timmy! Help us out!"

The brunet raced in from down the sewer path, lashing back and forth at the monsters with the newest staff Caleb had given him, a slender violet rod that was called Hanuman's Staff. Who exactly Hanuman was was anybody's guess, and the android had not been in the mood for a history lesson. Either way, having the staff meant Timmy had a weapon, and he was flailing it about wildly in his attempts to drive the toothpaste creatures from his friends. The creatures turned slowly to deal with him as well, slamming huge arms down to try to take him out. One swung aside and connected, sending the brunet flying towards his friends with a startled, pained cry. Colliding with them, the trio fell to the floor and struggled to get reoriented. The monsters brayed in dimwitted triumph, collectively turning to face them again.

"Owww... Dude, that sucks. Those things would make it big as pitchers for the Yankees." Chester complained irritably as he tried to sit up. He pushed at the brunet lying across him, "Timmy! Get off! C'mon, we gotta get outta here!" A.J. blinked as he rubbed his head and paled slightly when he looked down at their team leader himself.

"That's not gonna be too easy. Wanda wasn't kidding when she said he couldn't take hard hits! Look!" he exclaimed, pointing at the arm that had taken the brunt of the blow. It was heavily bruised and seemed somewhat wrong. Timmy shifted and moaned softly as he finally shook off his dazed state, then immediately cringed and put a hand over the injured arm.

"Ow, ow, ow! What did they do to me? It hurts!" he cried, wailing louder when the African-American carefully touched fingers to the bruise.

"Broken. The hit must have snapped the bone." A.J. finally deduced and looked up at Chester, "What now?" The blonde squirmed free and stood, picking up the staff himself and wielding it like a bat.

"We're just gonna have to hold them off until he heals. Timmy, can't you use _First Aid_?" he replied and the brunet ground his teeth together, blinking back tears as he tried to straighten his arm with A.J.'s help.

"I don't have enough mana for it. I used up a lot trying to get past all those things out there... ow! Don't know how long... before I recharge..." he gasped in response and looked around himself, "Where are Cosmo and Wanda?"

Chester yelled suddenly and launched himself at the toothpaste monsters, swinging the staff to beat them back. The tunnels were becoming more crowded with each new group of creatures that tromped in, guffawing at the sight of them desperately trying to stand their ground. A.J. kept the brunet supported against himself, holding up his laser blaster as he fired in the direction of any creature getting too close to the patch of ground they currently held. Timmy growled in frustration, angry that he couldn't help until he had the strength to heal himself first. And Chester couldn't dodge hits forever; he'd just taken two glancing blows that knocked the wind out of him, even with the armor on and his own innate defensive skills. A solid blow, like the one that downed Timmy, and the Leader of the Others would be out of the game himself.

The group before them closed in, laughing, until the light of a blue-white laser cut through the mob of monsters, splattering toothpaste all over the walls and floor. The sewer water fizzled with the addition of so many tons of paste. Chester leaped back and looked around in astonishment, wondering briefly what had just happened before looking back at Timmy as he held a hand over his arm and murmured the _First Aid_ spell softly.

"Was that you?" he asked of the brunet, "I thought you said you didn't have the magic power to do anything to those things."

"That wasn't me! That was Chip!" Timmy exclaimed in surprise, standing back up with A.J.'s help, "I thought I told Tootie to get him out of here!" He shook his head, exasperated. "Why doesn't she just listen to what I tell her? Is this some kind of punishment for something?" he complained as both singer and Goth arrived on the scene.

"We're here to save the day!" Tootie cried, Romi looking panicky as Chip pulled up alongside them both and smiled brightly, firing yet another beam of light at the horde of toothpaste creatures lumbering after the three boys from behind. Chester and A.J. jumped in alarm, staring first at the remnants of the monsters, then at the singer.

"Teeth Fu. I'm a master of it!" Chip declared with a grin, striking several of his old poses for the fun of it. The walls, covered in various colors of toothpaste, began taking on more shadows as yet more of the creatures began to trudge into the tunnels to take the place of their fallen brethren. Cinnamon, mint, lemon; the scents of toothpaste filled the air, making for difficulty in breathing as the group huddled close together, facing outward to take on the new threats.

"Wanda! Cosmo! Where are you?" Timmy called out again, searching the area frantically for his fairy godparents as the first few monsters lumbered into view, blocking off their escape routes. A blob of paste moved weakly and he darted for it, scooping it up and wiping the scented goo off of Wanda's form. She coughed, gagging on the thickly scented air, and her hair and wings were so badly coated, she seemed more like an oil-coated seagull than a battle-weary fairy. Nearby, the protective dome of green magic, also covered in colorful splatters of paste, fell and Cosmo got to his feet, trembling from the effort of moving despite the weight of the toothpaste clinging to him. Timmy gathered him up as well and hurried back to the rest of the group, a worried expression crossing his face as he recovered his place among them, facing the incoming horde of monsters.

"The light from my teeth can take care of a bunch of them, but not the whole army." Chip Skylark muttered under his breath to Timmy as he stood by the brunet. Tootie took up a place beside him as well, picking up on the words.

"But if we could dunk them all in water, they'll get wiped out in a flash!" she added in a whisper, "If we could just get out of here, I can make a wish for it." Romi nodded her head.

"I can't grant a wish that could endanger humans like that, so I can't do anything until we've escaped." she clarified, "But we're surrounded and they blocked the exits. We won't be able to get out and I won't be able to use my magic!" The brunet gave them a puzzled expression as his godparents tried to clean themselves up, groping almost blindly for their wands. After another moment to reorganize his thoughts and replay their words mentally, Timmy lit up in realization.

"Tootie! That's a great idea! We'll flood the sewers with water to wipe them all out! Once all the toothpaste monsters are destroyed, we won't have to worry about them blocking our exits and the sewers will be cleared for the next time we come down to cut the networks!" he explained in a rush.

"What? Wait, you wanna do that while we're still down here?" Chester cried in alarm, "Dude! We'll drown! Didn't you hear Tootie's fairy? She can't grant that wish while we're down here!"

"Trust me. I know how to keep us all safe." Timmy returned with a confident tone, then looked down at his godparents in his arms. "What happened to you two? Are you okay? Anything hurt?" he asked worriedly, "I'm gonna need your help with this, but I won't push you into doing anything until I know you're okay." Wanda put a hand to her head, laughing somewhat forcefully as she tried to salvage her hairstyle.

"Now I know what plaque feels like." she joked, "We're fine, Sweetie. It's gonna be harder to help while we're covered in gunk like this, though." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "We can't fly with our wings stuck together." Timmy looked up at the additional toothpaste creatures as they began closing in, teeth shining in the dim lights of the tunnel, then grinned.

"Well, don't fly." he remarked, "Just sit on my shoulders and get ready." The two fairies quickly scrambled to their places, still searching the gummy paste on their bodies for their wands as Chip bared his teeth at the first of the monsters hurling a fresh volley of toothpaste at them.

"Hurry up with whatever you're planning!" A.J. cried, firing rapidly on the monsters coming up behind them. Chester swung wildly at the incoming globules of paste with Timmy's staff, trying desperately to put his meager baseball skills to use somewhere. Romi fluttered about near Tootie, conjuring various items to throw at the toothpaste creatures in attempts to stall them.

"Hang on just a little longer! I don't have enough mana built up for _Boltzman's Shield_!" the brunet cried, hands held out before him as ribbons of shimmering color streamed around them from the paste on the walls, the water running beside them, the very air they tried to breathe despite the heavy perfumes of toothpaste.

"Found them!" Wanda declared as she pulled her wand free of the goop on her back, her husband tearing his loose from additional paste on his pant leg. The fairy couple lifted their wands in unison, poofing themselves clean instantaneously.

"We can't hold them off much longer!" Tootie cried, a circle of blue magic spinning at her feet as she aimed her dagger at the reinforcement monsters swarming the tunnel now, _"Aqua Edge!"_ Disks of water rushed out from around her and slammed into one of the creatures, washing it away in a foamy demise. "The air's getting harder to breathe and we're losing ground!" she managed to choke out, eyes watering at the release of still more cinnamon scent into the tunnel. The beams of light from Chip's teeth were getting sporadic as he took longer breaks to rub at his face in pain.

"Smiling too big hurts, man." he groaned, "I can't keep this up forever!"

"Got it!" Timmy suddenly cried, _"Boltzman's Shield!"_ The shimmering blue crystal bloomed between his hands and the cascading dome of mana rained down over the whole group, providing a welcome barrier against the growing number of toothpaste volleys. The brunet shut his eyes in concentration and the air within the dome suddenly began to grow fresh, no longer heavily scented and a relief to the lungs of everyone within it.

"An air pocket. Nice." A.J. commented, watching one of the globules of paste skim up against the dome and fly back, "The reflector shield _does_ have its many uses."

"So we can breathe clean air again, but how do we get out of this mess?" Chester exclaimed, glaring out at the monsters, "There's no way Timmy can move this big a shield and keep fresh air inside it, all while running with us! That's too much for him to focus on! Hell, **my** brain can't handle that much thinking, and I got less F's than he did!"

"Don't need to move...!" Timmy managed to growl out, "Cosmo! Wanda! I wish... sewer flooded... water...!" In a flash, the fairy couple waved their wands, then clung to each other with eyes shut tight as a massive wave of liquid rumbled and rushed towards them, sweeping away the toothpaste monsters in a massive flood of scented foam. The group in the dome screamed in panic as the tidal wave of foam and water blasted over them. The shield held and the members of Team Turner uncovered their heads, blinking up and around themselves in awe. They were dry, they were breathing air, but most of all, they were still _alive_. Timmy sighed suddenly and sat down in an undignified flop, the crystal hovering before him as he bowed his head.

"Taking more focus... than I thought..." he mumbled tiredly. Tootie reached down and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We can do fine with the air for now." she told him softly, "We'll let you know if it needs to be freshened again." He lifted his head and smiled at her in relief, then closed his eyes once more before opening them to look around himself more clearly.

"Well, that's one less untrained load on my mind." he remarked and blinked as he stared out at the strangely colored water, "Huh?" He peered at it suspiciously, then shot a look at the fairy couple as they hovered in the air. "I wished for water, guys! Why does it look green?"

"Water? I thought you said mouthwash." Cosmo remarked absently, "It seemed to do the same thing." The group sighed collectively in exasperation as the flood of liquid finally began to recede. Water or mouthwash, either one was sure to have cleared out the whole mess of toothpaste monsters. And, as a bonus, it probably messed up the exposed network connections even more.

A very successful mission.

* * *

When the whole of Team Turner was finally standing, mostly dry and collected, on the street, they were able to see first-hand what Trixie and Vicky had been watching for the past few hours. It looked as though a plague had descended upon the city of Dimmsdale, clouds of black-winged anti-fairies sweeping over them. Chester gazed up at them all, hands held up to shade his eyes.

"Geez, lookit 'em all. It's like the end of the world came or something." he remarked in awe. Timmy watched them with the group, faintly aware of the fact that Chip had seen a lot more of fairies and fairy magic than he really should have but hadn't really made any kind of fuss over it. "Should we run for cover before they hit us with bad luck or something?" Chester added worriedly.

"Eeks!" Andromeda suddenly squealed, flapping her arms excitedly, "There she went!" Tootie looked up at her, puzzled, and the fairy shook her head. "I saw my anti-self fly by. She scares me a little, but at least she didn't stop to bother us." she explained and hovered by her godchild, looking worried, "But it doesn't explain why all the anti-fairies are acting like this."

"Whoa. I've been left out of the loop more than I thought." Chip muttered, looking up at the mass of antis swirling overhead, "That's a lot of little flying people. Are they the same as the ones you and Tootie hang out with?" Timmy looked around again, walking forward as he scanned the skies.

"They're anti-fairies, opposites of fairies. We're supposed to meet one of them today." the brunet explained quickly, "He's kind of a friend of mine, though technically all anti-fairies are evil little guys and he's their leader." He looked up again, worried, "But he's usually in the middle of the mess, laughing his head off. I don't see him anywhere."

The black van pulled up by them and the doors opened, Trixie and Vicky jumping out to join the group for a report on how things were doing. The raven-haired Popular immediately raced for the team leader, throwing her arms around him in a hug as both Tootie and Chester looked on with faintly irritated expressions.

"You're okay! I'm so glad! What happened down there that got you and everyone else running around and...?" she began to cry, then paused and jumped back in sudden alarm, "You're soaking wet! What happened?" Timmy rubbed at his head sheepishly.

"I fell in the sewer water." he explained with a slight chuckle, then blinked as the girl wrinkled her nose. He frowned and huffed. "Well, I didn't do it on purpose." he added.

"Ah, well, I didn't mean it like that." Trixie stammered, "It's just that... well, what could have been mean enough to throw you in sewer water?" The brunet shrugged, but said nothing else, only turning away from her to watch the city and everything that was happening. She sighed again. Lost more points. Was she losing her touch, or was he really different from before? This wasn't good; how was she to get the best guy available if he was cooling down when it came to her?

All around the group, citizens raced about in a panic, followed by anti-fairies draining them of the black auras before flying off. Timmy tilted his head in confusion, then looked to his fluttering godparents for an explanation. Both Cosmo and Wanda looked surprised by the events, blinking in astonishment.

"What's going on? This doesn't look like the usual Friday the Thirteenth invasion." he asked the two fairies.

"They're gathering energy for someone. Lots of it." Wanda remarked in concern, "This kind of collecting looks pretty serious. One of the anti-fairies must have gotten seriously hurt or energy deprived."

"Can you tell who it is?" the brunet asked and both fairies shut their eyes for a moment, then shook their heads.

"Not Anti-Wanda; she's in good condition, but she's panicky. I'm still in one piece, so that's a sign that she's healthy." the pink-haired fairy returned, then looked to her husband. Cosmo remained silent, a frown on his face. "Cosmo, you're looking okay, so Anti-Cosmo should be fine too, right?" she asked.

"Maybe." he returned vaguely, "Not getting much." Timmy tilted his head curiously, then looked to the other fairies. Romi shook her head to signal that nothing was wrong with her, thus nothing was wrong with her anti-self. Apollo shrugged, puzzled but also healthy. His anti-self had to be fine as well if he wasn't struggling to stay airborne.

"Well, let's follow the antis and ask Anti-Cosmo about it. Maybe we can help." Timmy suggested hopefully and ran after one of the anti-fairies, calling out to it for directions. The other teens looked at each other, then raced after him, the fairies flying overhead to keep them somewhat safe as they searched for the leader of the anti-fairies.

* * *

The group reached a small, abandoned shop only a block away, a twister of anti-fairies spinning overhead as groups of antis dipped down before the building at random times. A cluster of antis were settled on the sidewalk, a mass of black bat wings and dark-colored clothes that all but obscured the view. Timmy ran ahead of his friends, waving his hand at the anti-fairies.

"Hey! Hey! Can one of you point me to where Anti-Cosmo is? I wanna ask him what's going on!" he yelled and the cluster scattered in a frenzy, flapping upwards like startled pigeons. One of them stayed where she was, her curled blue hair frayed from stress and anxiety as she knelt by the prone figure lying on a bed of blankets and pillows swiped from the abandoned shop. Timmy stopped short, staring down at them as the antis hovered around him, eyeing him warily. Wanda and Cosmo flew down by him, worried over why he stopped so suddenly.

"Oh." Cosmo murmured, catching sight of what his godson was staring at. He tilted his head, frowned again and turned his back on the group, a frustrated growl uttering from his throat. "You did something to me." he hissed under his breath.

_"All I did was protect your mind and health. Blocking the synch was the only way. You should thank me; had it gone through, you would have been useless in combat for more than forty-eight hours."_ the voice returned coldly.

"Anti-Cosmo..." Timmy murmured in shock, kneeling down by the little anti, "What _happened_ to you?" Battered almost beyond recognition, Anti-Cosmo lay silently on the makeshift bed, breathing softly as his 'minions' flew over him at erratic intervals, dropping shimmering clouds of black over him. Clothes torn, ragged, dirty, stained with long dried blood and ink; his monocle broken, shattered, the frame bent as it remained attached to its chain by a miracle; for a moment, the brunet was sure that the anti-fairy was dead. Timmy finally looked up at Anti-Wanda as she sat by her husband in tired tears. "Can you tell me what happened? What... did this to him?" he asked hollowly.

"It wuz horrible, ya'll!" Anti-Wanda sobbed out, lifting her hands to cover her face, "It wuz jest horrible! I was waitin' and waitin' and waitin' fer ages fer him ta come home and... and...!" She bawled louder and Wanda flew down to stand by her, hesitating for a moment before reaching out to hug her.

"It's okay. Calm down. Tell Timmy what happened." she whispered comfortingly. Her anti-self nodded, sniffling loudly as her makeup ran in messy black rivers down her face. She rubbed her eyes, then shrugged helplessly, shaking her head sadly as she looked down at her husband.

"He said some stuff, but ya'll know me; I can't keep all his fancy talk straight in my head fer too long." Anti-Wanda finally sighed, "Somethin' 'bout a plan and, uh, a war..." She shook her head, her mismatched teeth clenching together as she tried to hold back tears and talk at once. "Shoot, ya'll! I can't 'member it all!" she blurted, "But it was 'mportant!"

Timmy took in the sporadic information, then looked down at the anti-fairy, reaching out to carefully brush back his cobalt blue hair. He jumped back, startled, as Anti-Cosmo gasped suddenly and winced before slowly opening his eyes, one only partially open as the brunet made out a large bruise on the anti's cheek.

"Anti-Cosmo? Can you hear me?" he asked and the anti managed a small grin, sharp teeth glinting in the light of the lampposts around them.

"Not quite the reunion I had hoped for." he mumbled, "But then... I never thought... I'd be... discovered..." He trailed off and closed his eyes. "The note..." he whispered before falling silent. Anti-Wanda halted her sobbing and blinked in surprise before breaking into a huge grin.

"Oh yeah! That's right! Anti-Cozzie had me write down what he said when he finally showed back up at home!" she exclaimed happily, her previous sorrow forgotten in a flash at the thought of something she could do to help. She pat herself down, then pulled out a rumpled letter. "He taught me how to write, and he had me practice all the time." She held it up to Timmy, smiling. The brunet accepted the letter, then carefully opened it, puzzled by everything that was happening. Anti-fairies continued making their passes, dropping more energy down onto their leader in hopes of giving him enough to heal faster.

"A letter?" Timmy murmured, scanning the words quickly at first, then pausing as that sense of déjà vu returned again. The scrawled handwriting was familiar, as though he had seen it somewhere before. He shook his head, then read the letter again, more carefully as he picked out the messy words written by a frantic anti-fairy. "_'They planned it all... A... setup. War is near. The Spires are... key... Stop...'_" he read aloud and peered carefully at the words as the rest of the team caught up to him, clutching an assortment of hastily bought and crafted good luck charms to ward off the anti-fairies.

"Stop what?" Wanda asked, flying up to her godson as Cosmo lifted his head and looked back over his shoulder at them, a strangely suspicious expression on his face. "We're stopping the Dark Spires as fast as we can. What more does Anti-Cosmo want?"

"_'Stop... destruction of Spires...'_" Timmy picked out of the rumpled letter, "_'Don't... show... truth...'_" He tilted his head and finally looked up at his fairies. "Wanda, Cosmo..." he murmured, "What do we do? Anti-Cosmo got hurt looking for something that involved why I died. This is what he came back with." He shook his head slowly, confused. "Something's wrong with all this... and it's like the Spires are stuck in the middle of it. Destroying them is helping the fairies, but this says that destroying them is going to reveal a truth. Would that be bad? Worse than leaving the Spires up?" he asked them.

"The Spires... will show the truth...?" Wanda whispered and suddenly looked horrified, shooting her gaze at the silent anti-fairy lying on the on the sidewalk, "**Who** knows? Whoever did this knows?" She panicked, waving her arms. "Timmy! We have to stop destroying the Spires! Right now! No more missions!"

"What?" the brunet exclaimed in shock, "But if they stay up, Remy wins! The whole world will be covered in anti-magic and no fairy will be able to live here!" The pink-haired fairy smacked him with her wand.

"No more missions!" she snapped and turned her back on him, "We'll find another way to save the world, but we are **not** destroying the Spires!" Timmy stared up at her in alarm, then looked down at the letter in his hands, baffled. What was going on now? Everything was going well; the Spire connections had been cut, Chip Skylark was found and under Hounder protection, and then all this happened.

Who beat up Anti-Cosmo so badly that the entire Friday the Thirteenth was being used to restore his health? Why was he being told that destroying the Spires was going to do more harm than good? What truth was being hidden that had Wanda freaking out more than the time he wished himself into being the opposite of who he was? And why was she so intent on keeping it that way that she would let Remy and Crocker win?

"What's going on?" Timmy murmured again and looked up at the city skyline, taking in the view of the remaining Dark Spires from among the skyscrapers and the buzzing clouds of anti-fairies. This was one of those times where he wished he had a better way of thinking things out. Since the mission was successful, they should have bought plenty of time to destroy the next Spire. Time that would be needed to solve this new mystery, before anything more could happen to seal the fate of the world.

To Be Continued...


End file.
